D.C. Council Kills 3% Raise for Firefighters
The D.C. Council rejected a proposed pay raise for firefighters yesterday, following the lead of Chairman John A. Wilson, who organized the vote and then rebuked Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon for her handling of the city's budget crisis.</br></br>Council members, ignoring a furious last-minute campaign of union leaders, voted unanimously in a committee of the whole meeting to turn down a 3 percent pay raise that Marion Barry approved for firefighters just before he left office Jan. 2. The council has scheduled a final vote on the raise Tuesday.</br></br>Dixon has said she is legally bound to support the raise because Barry approved it. However, her top aides said yesterday that she was pleased with the council's vote because the city cannot afford any raises.</br></br>Wilson argued that the raise, which would cost about $1.8 million this year, was an unrealistic expense for a city struggling with a budget deficit that may reach $300 million. He also said that since the council rejected pay raises for 20,000 other city workers last fall, it should not raise firefighters' pay.</br></br>"We have to act responsibly," said Jim Nathanson (D-Ward 3), one of eight council members backing Wilson. "We have absolutely no idea where the money would come from . . . . I hope our unions realize we're in a tough bind."