Prospect Heights Fire Department unionizes

Prospect Heights Fire Protection District employees have formed a union for the first time since the department began in 1944.

The district's board of trustees unanimously approved the collective bargaining agreement with Teamsters Local 700 Tuesday.

Fire Chief Donald Gould says the agreement covers nine of the department's 50 employees.

Employees covered include six full-time firefighters and three full-time lieutenants.

Gould says all of the board's discussion on the agreement was done in a closed session before the vote.

The contract, which took effect Tuesday and runs through December 2018, covers wages and working conditions.

The nine union employees are set to receive pay raises every January based on their experience and positions with the department.

Firefighters, for example, are locked in to a 2 percent raise in 2016 and 2017 and a 2.5 percent raise in 2018.

Lieutenants will get a 2.5 percent raise in 2016 and 2018, and a 1.5 percent bump in 2017.

The contract will automatically renew each year after 2018 unless the department or employees decide to modify the agreement by July 1 of the year prior.