By Ken Valenti

WESTPORT–A three-year contract agreement between Westport and its firefighters providing annual 2.95% raises, is scheduled to be voted on by the Representative Town Meeting on Wednesday night.

But the agreement does not settle the dispute between the parties over firefighter pensions that the union president has said makes it difficult to keep firefighters from leaving for other departments. That question remains in arbitration, according to Jimmy Izzo, the RTM representative in the negotiations.

First Selectman Kevin Christie and Lieutenant Matthew Wille, president of the Westport Uniformed Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 1081, did not respond to emails from the Westport Journal on Friday.

Firefighters have been working on an expired contract for more than a year. The new agreement would be retroactive to July 1, 2025, when the first 2.95% raise would be in effect. The second pay increase would also be retroactive, to July 1, 2026, with the third raise coming on the same day next year. The agreement would run through June 30, 2028.

The contract also calls for annual clothing allowances of $1,075 for firefighters and $1,100 for inspectors, lieutenants and assistant chiefs.

The RTM meeting will be held on Zoom at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Find the meeting agenda and Zoom link here.

The town and the firefighters union went to arbitration in June over the pension benefits that were reduced a decade ago. Wille said earlier that the benefits can’t compete with other departments.

For firefighters hired since 2017, the pension plan amount to 1.5% of their final annual compensation for every year of employment, with no cost-of-living adjustment, Wille said. Upon retirement, they can keep their health insurance plan by paying 40% of the premium for themselves and the full premium for a spouse, he said. Their 401K match is 50% up to 6% of base salary