DeSantis appointees reach deal with Disney World's firefighters, capping years of negotiations
The board of Walt Disney World’s governing district now filled with Gov. Ron DeSantis appointees has approved a contract for its firefighters
ORLANDO, Fla. — After years of contentious negotiations, the board of Walt Disney World's governing district now made up of Gov. Ron DeSantis appointees approved a contract for its firefighters on Wednesday and also proposed reducing property taxes.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District voted unanimously to approve the three-year contract that covers 200 firefighters and paramedics in the Reedy Creek Professional Firefighters' Association.
The contract, among other provisions, would increase wages by 5%, including raising the starting annual wage for firefighter and paramedics from $55,000 to $66,000. It also would provide $5,000 signing bonuses for workers with three or more years working for the department and $2,500 bonuses for everyone else.
“This issue has been around for some time… and there have been some contentious negotiations,” Martin Garcia, chairman of the oversight district's board, said at a meeting. “We feel this is a fair, generous and fiscally responsible agreement.”
The old contract expired more than four years ago, and the firefighters declared themselves at an impasse last year with the district’s board when it was still controlled by Disney supporters. Members of the firefighters union have warned for years that they are understaffed, adding that posed a public safety risk as the central Florida theme park resort grows bigger.
The firefighters were among the few employees who publicly welcomed the takeover of the Disney World governing board by DeSantis appointees earlier this year after haggling over a contract for years with a board controlled by
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