Atlanta City Councilmember Wayne Martin introduced legislation Monday directing the city “to provide for equitable and competitive” pay for its firefighters by July 1, when the city’s 2027 fiscal year begins — amid ongoing tensions between Mayor Andre Dickens and the firefighters union.
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 134 sued the city last month for breach of contract over the mayor’s refusal to sign the city’s first-ever union contract with Atlanta Fire Rescue Department workers. The Atlanta City Council approved the contract a year ago.
Martin’s pay-raise bill, co-sponsored by 12 of the 15 council members, was referred to the council’s Public Safety and Legal Administration Committee at the April 20 full council meeting.
That followed four hours of public comment from almost 100 Atlantans on three hot issues: firefighter pay and the union contract, city policy on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and ensuring access to the city’s Policing Alternatives and Diversion Initiative (PAD), ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup games in June and July.
“If Atlanta is committed to public safety, then let’s put our money where our mouth is,” said East Atlanta resident Matt McCabe, urging the city to support the firefighters, and protect immigrants and unhoused Atlantans.
The high public turnout was driven by organizing from the Atlanta firefighters union and a coalition of advocacy groups, including Communities over Cages, Housing Justice League, Play Fair ATL, Democratic Socialists of America, and Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights.
The council subsequently approved two resolutions to control Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity. One bars ICE detention facilities within city limits and the other requires the Atlanta Police Department to retain body-camera footage from officers present at ICE enforcement operations.
Activists told the council that PAD services to divert people experiencing mental-health issues, substance-use, or high poverty from jail to social services should be accessible round the clock. Currently, the city’s 311 line only takes calls for immediate PAD assistance from 7 am to 12 am on Mondays through Fridays. The city has said the 311 line will be open on weekend match days.
‘Don’t let your house catch on fire’
During public comment, IAFF Local 134 union members and supporters called on the mayor to sign the union contract. “Mr. Mayor, you promised the firefighters [a contract] two years ago,” said Atlanta resident Marjorie McCloud. “Don’t let your house catch on fire.”
Public commenters also raised concerns about low firefighter pay, understaffing, and out-of-service equipment affecting emergency response times.
“Atlanta has some of the best firefighters in the country, so why are they some of the lowest paid in the country and the most understaffed in the South?” asked Ashley Wheeler Glass. She said she’d be a widow, if not for the quick response of Atlanta firefighters when her home caught fire.
“This is not response time – it’s life saving time,” Glass added. “This is not a firefighter failure. This is a system failure.”
‘A knife in the back’
IAFF Local 134 President Nate Bailey raised similar concerns. “The last time all the engines and ladders were in service was November 2021,” he said.
Low pay has caused a 15% firefighter vacancy rate, Bailey added, which he said also affects emergency response time. The Mayor’s Office disputes that figure, saying the vacancy rate is below 10%.
The city of Atlanta raised firefighter pay in 2025, as part of salary increases for city employees. Firefighter starting pay jumped from $52,000 to $58,000, but Bailey said the raises are compressed up the ranks, so it takes Atlanta firefighters 15 years to reach a top salary of $68,000. That causes them to leave for better-paying cities, he said.
By comparison, salaries for firefighters in Memphis hit $70,000 after three years, while top pay in Orlando exceeds $100,000.
The firefighter union president reiterated the union’s allegation that the Mayor’s Office altered the results of a 2024 pay-comparison study from an outside consultant, Mercer, to deflate the recommended Atlanta firefighter pay scale. Bailey said the Mayor’s Office asked Mercer to remove firefighter pay scales for four major cities, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and Philadelphia, from its pay comparison report, according to emails between city officials and the consultancy that the union obtained in an open records request.
However, Bailey said, the emails show that pay data from those four cities were included in salary comparisons for Atlanta elected officials — namely the city council and the mayor. The city hired Mercer for input into the 2025 pay raises.
“It felt like a knife in the back,” Bailey said of the union’s discovery.
“Our big ask from you this budget cycle is […] fix our pay,” Bailey exhorted the council. “We want to be even with our competitors, so we can keep our people here.” The union president added that he represents 900 Atlanta firefighters. “Every one of them would die for you and your family. Please take care of them,” he said.
“I know I’m probably going to get yelled at publicly when I leave here. I’m cool with it. I’m good,” he said, referring to the mayor’s attacks on Bailey’s union leadership. “I want the men and women [of Atlanta Fire Rescue] to be fairly compensated.”
The Mayor’s Office said in a statement after the April 21 council meeting that Martin’s proposed pay-raise legislation for firefighters “will need review.” It added that the city has raised firefighter pay by between 7% and 15% since 2023, in addition to cost-of-living adjustments of 1.5% in 2023 and 3.5% in 2024.
The statement also said the city has spent $26 million to upgrade Atlanta Fire Rescue equipment since Dickens took office in 2021 and built the Atlanta Public Safety Training Center for better firefighter training.
Martin told Atlanta Civic Circle he introduced the pay-raise legislation to improve firefighter retention.
“Atlanta cannot afford to hire and train firefighters, only to watch them leave for better long-term pay elsewhere,” he said. “This legislation is about keeping Atlanta safe.”
