NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council passed an updated fiscal 2025 classification and compensation plan with no debate at a special meeting on Monday. 

 

The updated plan covers recent agreements with the firefighters, police and Department of public Works' unions and is retroactive to July 1. 

 

The firefighters and police are getting about a 3 percent raise. 

 

An entry-level firefighter will have a minimum starting wage of $46,574, up from $45,218, and Step 1 will start at $48,085.

 

A patrol officer at Step 1 will get $47,272, up from $45,031. Second shift will get an 8 percent differential ($48,633 at Step 1) and third a 9 percent differential ($49,083 at Step 1).

 

DPW workers will see a $2 an hour raise across the board, or about 12 percent. An entry level laborer will start at $17.30 an hour, up from $15.30.

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey had proposed a 2 percent cost-of-living raise for nonunion employees back in May. 

 

At that time, the public unions were still in negotiations and the mayor said the focus was on wages as nothing "unreasonable" had been asked for education or stipends. 

 

"The big focus is on public services wages," she said back in May. "We're having a hard time finding people and we are losing good people to our neighboring communities."

 

The meeting took barely two minutes and the vote was unanimous with Councilors Lisa Blackmer and Ashley Shade absent.