‘Slap in the face’: Firefighters union blast Hialeah proposal after historic police deal

The Hialeah firefighters’ union is calling the city’s proposed two-year contract a “slap in the face,” saying the offer does little to address the department’s staffing and retention crisis and leaves firefighter salaries behind neighboring agencies.

The proposal, presented by Jose Torres, who has served as a Hialeah police officer since 2012 and now holds an administrative position as Mayor Bryan Calvo’s chief of staff, would give firefighters a 6% cost-of-living increase in October, and another 6% increase the following year.

“With all due respect, this is a slap in the face to me,” Michael Bello, vice-president of the firefighters union, said during Tuesday’s bargaining session.

The proposal came just weeks after Hialeah police reached a much larger compensation agreement with the city. The police contract provides officers with an 8% increase in 2026, followed by 6% increases in 2027 and 2028. Officers with longer tenure also receive an additional 5%, according to the police union.

Firefighters, meanwhile, are seeking raises of 10% in the first year, 7% in the second and 5% in year three. But the city did not offer a three-year agreement. Instead, its proposal covers only two years.

The disparity has become a major source of frustration for the firefighters union.

“We saw press conferences where it was described as a great 30% contract for [police]. So is that the only department that was important?” Bello asked.

READ MORE: Hialeah reaches ‘historic’ police pay deal as city struggles to keep first responders

He argued that the city’s proposal would not solve the department’s problems or make Hialeah firefighters competitive with surrounding agencies.

“This doesn’t resolve any of it. It doesn’t make us comparable, nowhere near comparable to departments around us, much less our own first responders who are on scene,” Bello said.

Fire ‘sacred’

Shortly after Calvo was elected mayor in November, he told the Miami Herald that police officers, firefighters and 911 dispatchers were a priority.

“For me, the police, firefighters, and 911 are sacred,” Calvo said days after he was elected. “There are going to be big changes; that’s what voters wanted.”

However, the proposed firefighter contract would provide 12% in raises over two years while the police agreement provides compounded salary increases ranging from roughly 25% to 30% over three years. The police increases are scheduled to extend through 2028, creating a significant difference in the compensation packages for the city’s public-safety employees. Contract negotiations for the city’s 911 employees are ongoing.

‘We are understaffed’

Eric Johnson, president of the firefighters union, told city officials that the staffing problem is affecting the department.

Johnson looked around the room during the bargaining session and counted 11 firefighters who had already been hired by other departments and were expected to leave Hialeah.

“We are to the point now where either you’re going to clearly demonstrate that you care for this fire department, or we’re going to explore a merger,” Johnson said.

The proposed contract has renewed calls among some firefighters for a more permanent solution to the department’s ongoing loss of personnel. For many, that solution would be a merger with Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. While such a move would reduce the city’s direct control over fire services, union leaders argue it could offer firefighters better pay and benefits while expanding services available to residents. City officials, however, have not seriously considered a merger in years.

He said the city can recruit young firefighters, but retaining them is another matter.

“I can recruit 18- and 19-year-olds all day long,” Johnson said. “But as soon as they see the pay scale and pension benefits somewhere else, they’re going to leave.”

According to the union’s data on firefighter attrition, 65 of the 149 recruits hired since 2018 have left Hialeah, many to join other agencies.

Union leaders described the pattern as a costly cycle for the city: Hialeah pays to recruit, train and equip new firefighters, but when a trained firefighter leaves for another agency, the department loses that employee and must fill the resulting vacancy, often at a premium overtime cost.

The repeated loss of trained firefighters, the union argues, means the city is not fully recovering its investment in recruitment, academy training, equipment and field experience before having to spend again to replace them.

The Herald has previously reported on the Hialeah fire department’s staffing crisis. The department has about 226 firefighters, down from more than 300 in 2007, while responding to more than 31,000 fire and medical emergency calls each year.

READ MORE: ‘Hialeah is no longer competitive’: Why firefighters are leaving the department

The staffing shortage has forced the department to operate engines, ladder trucks and rescue units with three-person crews instead of four-person crews recommended by national fire-service organizations.

The union argues that simply approving additional positions will not solve the problem if Hialeah cannot offer competitive salaries and benefits.

Falling behind

In a comparative analysis prepared by the Hialeah firefighters’ union, the organization examined its members’ salaries against those of comparable departments in the county, including Miami, Miami Beach, Key Biscayne, Coral Gables and Miami-Dade.

Johnson said that bringing Hialeah firefighters to the middle of the comparable departments would require a 24.63% increase in the first year alone, before specialty pay.

He also said Hialeah firefighters were previously about 7% behind Coral Gables across the board, without accounting for changes in specialty pay or pension benefits.

City officials disputed the union’s assessment.

Torres, who remains a Hialeah police officer and will benefit from the police union agreement while holding an administrative position, said the city had compared its proposal with those of fire departments across Miami-Dade County and believed the offer would put Hialeah firefighters on par with those at other agencies.

Bello, the union’s vice president, questioned the comparison presented by Torres and asked him to provide the analysis on which the city based its proposal. Torres replied that the analysis was a public record. The union, for its part, stated that its own analysis takes into account salaries, specialty pay, overtime, pensions and other benefits.

A Hialeah fire lieutenant with 10 years of experience earns just over $100,000 a year, the lowest salary among comparable fire departments in Miami-Dade County, according to the union’s analysis.

A lieutenant with the same experience in Miami Beach earns nearly $71,000 more annually, while counterparts at Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and the City of Miami earn about $20,000 and $25,000 more, respectively. Even Coral Gables, the next-lowest paying department in the comparison, pays more than $17,000 above Hialeah for a lieutenant at that experience level.

More than salary

The negotiations also cover vacation, pension benefits and health insurance.

Union members said firefighters should be able to take vacation based on budgeted staffing levels rather than actual staffing, arguing that employees should not be prevented from taking time off because the city has failed to recruit or retain enough firefighters.

They also warned that staffing shortages can increase overtime costs when firefighters are forced to cover shifts or adjust vacation schedules.

The city’s proposal includes a temporary change to the pension plan that would allow eligible firefighters with 20 years of service to enter a deferred retirement option, reducing the current 25-year service requirement. The provision would expire on Sept. 30, 2028.

The union said the pension change could help some veteran firefighters but does not make up for what it considers an inadequate salary package.

Health insurance is another outstanding issue. Union members expressed concern about the financial burden cancer places on firefighters; they noted that several members are currently on leave due to the disease and that the health plan requires more equitable funding.

The current firefighter contract expires Sept. 30, and negotiations are continuing. The city is expected to return with another proposal.

For firefighters, the comparison with the police union contract has made the city’s offer particularly difficult to accept.

Jacques Gazzola, a member of the firefighters union, said the disparate treatment is particularly frustrating.

“Our mayor started off the press conference, walked right up to that dais, looked at everybody’s face and said, ‘It’s a good day to be a Hialeah police officer,’” he said.

“I’m going to ask you: When is it going to be the time for us to stand at that dais and say, ‘It’s a good day to be a Hialeah firefighter’?”