Atlanta Police and Firefighters Protest Mayor’s Pay Raise Proposal

The mayor’s proposal would give police and firefighters a one percent pay increase.

“I think the one percent is a slap in the face,” said Kliff Grimes, a union spokesman for the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, which represents about 1200 Atlanta officers. “The city has the resources to provide for these officers and a one percent [increase], they won’t even see that in their checks.”

In a written statement, the mayor’s office has said the proposal is more than fair, given still declining city revenues. It also points out that police and fire received a 3.5 percent pay bump two years ago. 

Nonetheless, billboards, paid for by a group of police and firefighters, have popped up calling out the City Council for recently awarding itself a 52 percent pay increase.

Grimes says officers meanwhile are being asked to do more with less.

“They’re saying, ‘well, we’ll get ours but you ain’t getting yours.’ We don’t have a problem with them getting theirs, but be fair with it.”

A deal must be reached by July.