Ground Zero heroes agree rise after bitter two-year battle

As Britain's firefighters stayed out yesterday, their most celebrated American counterparts reluctantly concluded a long and bitter pay dispute that had led the men and women traditionally known as New York's Bravest to relabel themselves New York's Poorest.

The city's fire crews had been without a contract for two years as they fought to raise starting salaries from $32,724, or £20,749 - about £800 less than the going rate in Britain. But the bitterness increased enormously after September 11, as firefighters accused city leaders of paying lip service to their "heroism" in a catastrophe that killed 343 of their colleagues.

"I'm tired of politicians coming to our funerals and telling the widows how sorry they are," Steve Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, told thousands of his colleagues in Times Square in August. "I'm tired of hearing that there is no more money ... pay us a living wage."

The deal agreed this week, pending ratification by union members, gives fire department of New York employees a retrospective 10% raise for the two years of their dispute, pushing "rookie" salaries to £22,803 - more than £7,000 less than British firefighters want - and closing seven engine companies around the city. Negotiations for a new contract will begin immediately. That was "as good as we can possibly do", the mayor, Mike Bloomberg, said, given "the financial condition of the city" - a reference to a disastrous budget deficit of up to $6bn it faces next year.

But the department has a recruiting crisis, with members retiring at twice the pre-September 11 rate. They cite low pay, but also the psychological effects of the terrorist attacks, and the promise of large pensions swelled by all the extra overtime since.

That the dispute has been concluded without a strike is due to New York state's punitive Taylor law, making it illegal for any public workers to strike. Firefighters raised the possibility nonetheless; had they done so, union leaders and others would have faced jail, fines and the loss of their jobs.

"By no means do I feel this package represents the value of what our members are truly worth," Mr Cassidy said.

The subject of pay is especially fraught because fire crews in neighbouring counties and other US cities earn much more.

Recruits taken on in Yonkers, just north of New York, earn $54,211, while the top FDNY salary of $49,023 - after five years' service - is the seventh highest for US cities with a population of more than a million. Long-serving Los Angeles firefighters get $65,748.