Firefighters OK contractraising pay 10% over 5 yrs.

By a nearly 8-1 ratio, Chicago firefighters and paramedics voted Wednesday to ratify a new contract that gives them a 10 percent pay raise over five years in exchange for manpower changes that will help the city reduce overtime costs.

The final vote was 3,036 to 421.

"We feel we did the right thing as an executive board and the members [agreed] with conviction. . . . They feel we did pretty good in this economic environment," said Michael O'Neill, secretary-treasurer of the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2.

As for the union's concession on a staffing issue that triggered the bitter 1980 firefighters strike, O'Neill said, "There's some give-and-take on both sides. …