According to documents released by the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, the District has reached an agreement with a portion of the Disney World firefighter union. A collective bargaining agreement will be backdated to January 1, 2023 and remain effective through the end of 2025. The collective bargaining agreement outlines working conditions, benefits, and wages for the “A Unit” of the Reedy Creek Professional Firefighters Association IAFF 2117.
The A Unit covers the following positions within the fire department:
- Firefighter/EMT
- Firefighter/Paramedic
- Engineer
- Lieutenant
- Communicator
- EMS Team Paramedic
- EMS Team EMT
- Fire Inspector
- Plans Examiner
- Sprinkler Technician
- Assistant Supervisor
The following positions are excluded from the A Unit agreement, and are negotiated separately:
- Chief
- Deputy Chief
- Assistant Chief
- Assistant Manager
- Commander
- Battalion Chief
- Captain
- Supervisor
- Clerical Personnel
Back in June, the Associated Press reported that District Administrator Glenton Gilzean had reopened negotiations with the firefighter’s union after what appeared to be an agreed-upon contract. The contract was already voted in favor by the firefighters and there was a closed-door session at the May 24th meeting, but the contract was reportedly not finalized with the CFTOD Board.
Just two days after the AP report, a report from Florida Politics quoted Firefighter union president Jon Shirey as saying that the firefighters “just shot ourselves in the foot” after leaking details of a lucrative contract following the installation of a DeSantis-picked Board. The Reedy Creek firefighters were essentially the public face of DeSantis’ retaliatory seizure of the Walt Disney World taxing district. DeSantis held a signing flanked by firefighters, including Shirey, as he took control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District.
Minimum pay was expected to rise to $65,000 – a figure roughly $10,000 higher than the Florida annual mean wage provided by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. The pay bump would’ve been worth millions to the firefighters, but Shirey said that once the details leaked, Gilzean began receiving calls from local leaders saying that he couldn’t sign the sweetheart deal:
This contract got into the hands of city and county leaders across the state of Florida. Glen had been receiving calls left and right yelling at him that he couldn’t sign this agreement, and how it was going to screw all of the taxpayers in those areas bc they would have to raise taxes just to be able to recruit and stay even somewhat competitive with the new market.
Shirey was not in attendance at a July 21st meeting following the leaked comments, but the exact reason for his absence was unknown.
Now, a wage table in the collective bargaining agreement reveals the following “Step 1” starting wages:
- Firefighter/EMT: $56,000
- Firefighter/Paramedic: $66,000
- Engineer: $69,500
- Lieutenant: $73,000
- Dispatcher: $50,600
- EMS Team Paramedic: $53,500
- EMS Team EMT: $45,400
- Fire Inspector: $55,900
- Plans Examiner: $60,800
- Assistant Supervisor: $53,600
A wage table was not made available for the leaked contract prior to the reopening of negotiations, so it’s not immediately clear how much of a decrease in starting wage pay there was following the leak of the contract.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the contract has been ratified by the union membership yet.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
It’s quite simple, these SPECIFIC people with POSSIBLE high clearance were bought by DeSantis, no doubt to potentially sabotage things from within or spy on day-to-day activities. So long as it’s not done by someone at the top, who can get news coverage like a Cheif or a Lieutenant, a lower ranking employee can get away with A LOT more things. Just saying.