The city of Lake Charles and Lake Charles local fire fighting union had scheduled a meeting prior to Monday, July 25.
“Before the demonstrations began, the city administration had a meeting scheduled to discuss concerns,” said John Cardone, city administrator.
Lake Charles firefighters were on the corners of Broad and Ryan Streets on Monday and Wednesday morning to make the public aware of their starting wage, $11.17 per hour.
The American Press submitted a public records request for more information about the LCFD starting wage, how the annual salary is calculated and details about other benefits.
The base annual salary for a first-year firefighter is $39,400. That’s calculated at $11.17 an hour x 2,912 hours, plus the built-in overtime pay of $870 and supplemental pay of $6,000.
As firefighters are promoted in rank, pay increases, according to city officials. State law mandates that pay for certain ranks be the following percentage over the starting pay for a starting firefighter: driver makes 10 percent more; captain makes 25 percent more; district chief makes 40 percent more; and assistant chief makes 50 percent more.
Information from the city also included the following: “The Firefighter 1st Class and Driver Qualified positions are not included in state law. The city created these positions to increase pay upon reaching certain milestones as a firefighter.”
Those milestones were not included.
The 2021 gross annual income averages by rank are as follows: firefighter,...
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