North Raleigh Today

Raleigh police officers and firefighters joined forces Tuesday as they staged a protest for better pay, something the emergency responders say is necessary to retain workers and recruit new employees.

The group rallied outside the municipal building at 228 West Hargett St. in downtown Raleigh from noon to 3 p.m.

"We do predict that this summer there may be communities that won't have fire protection for a day or a couple of days due to not having staffing," Andrew Davis, president of the Raleigh Professional Firefighters Association, told WRAL on Tuesday. "That worries us, that sickens us."

The city fire department has 58 vacancies, the WRAL report said. That represents a 450% increase in unfilled jobs in two years. While some of the staffing shortages can be attributed to lack of willingness to deal with jobs that bring people into close contact with strangers during the COVID-19 pandemic, they place the lion's share of the blame on salaries that — at $13.42 per hour — are well below the $17.33 per hour living wage for the city.

The City is trying to close that gap, with a proposed pay plan that would increase firefighters' pay to $15.06, the report said. But firefighters are asking the City to raise the starting pay to $18.20 per hour and adjust the entire pay scale accordingly.

On the police side, the City Council is struggling to fill 168 vacancies, which is approximately 20% of the total force. They are working to bring up minimum pay.

"It was truly a slap in the face to basically give these veteran officers half of what they're giving new recruits," Raleigh Police Protective Association spokesman Rick Armstrong told WRAL.

Armstrong noted that while he supports the idea of giving new officers $50,000 per year, up from the current $42,000, experienced officers also need substantial pay raises.