Nutter says proposed firefighters union contract is too expensive

The city of Philadelphia is appealing an arbitration ruling for the firefighters unions new contract.

The city of Philadelphia is appealing an arbitration ruling for the firefighters unions new contract.

The four year deal includes three percent pay raises in the final three years of the agreement, but Mayor Michael Nutter says it is too expensive for the city to handle so he will appeal.

“In short the FOP contract award provided the tools to manage the additional costs, while the firefighters award does not give this flexibility. We simply cannot afford this.”

Mayor Nutter says there is no incentive to save money on healthcare and if the contract was put in place the city would be forced to cut back on service to cover the costs.