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A Resolution of the City Commission ratifying the attached Memorandum of Understanding between the City of Coral Gables and the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1210 (IAFF), providing the City’s firefighters a 1% hazard pay supplement funded by the Cares Act.
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The International Association of Firefighters, Local 1210 (the “Union”), serves as the exclusive bargaining agent for the City’s firefighters in the following classifications: firefighters, driver engineers, lieutenants, captains, and battalion chiefs. The terms and conditions of employment for the City’s firefighters are governed by a Collective Bargaining Agreement for the period October 1, 2017 through September 20, 2020 (the “CBA).
The Coronavirus ("COVID-19") is a respiratory illness that has led to a declaration of a public health emergency locally, state-wide and nationally, and has required a considerable expenditure of governmental resources. The federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act was passed in March 2020 which, among other things, appropriated federal monies for local units of governments to cover expenditures incurred due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act specifically appropriated federal monies to Miami-Dade County (the “County”) to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19.
On July 27, 2020, the County approved the disbursement of federal monies to municipalities within its geographic region to provide what the County referred to as a one percent (1%) hazardous pay supplement or the “1% Hazard Pay” to firefighters, in recognition of their tireless work during the pandemic despite the health risk and exposure. The City’s firefighters are eligible for the 1% Hazard Pay. State law mandates that any adjustment to wages requires mutual agreement between the City and the Union.