Memphis Councilwoman Says Firefighters 'Rape' the City During Pay Discussions

During a city council meeting this week, a council member said Memphis firefighters "rape" the city while the fire union was asking to obtain a raise.

The next day, the Memphis Fire Fighters Association Local 1784 issued a statement, stating they were trying to get two percent of their raise restored after it was cut last year. 

“It’s the same players, the same gatekeepers who come here asking for money for a poor city,” Yolanda Cooper-Sutton said during the meeting, WREG reported. “The same players, the same faces come here, and you rape and you rape and you rape, and you take and you take and you take from this city.”

Cooper-Sutton explained that the firefighter's union asks for raises annually.

“Next year you’ll be coming back and we ask you to work with us because things will be a little tight, a little tight, but no, you are so greedy,” she said. “I don’t know how much more you want … just draining this poor city.”

Memphis Firefighters Association President Thomas Malone said the department is asking for pay increases because the department continues to lose firefighters to other departments with higher pay. Six firefighters left the department in the last two weeks, Malone said. 

According to the city's firefighter recruitment page, recruits will earn $46,210 while a first-year firefighter will earn $67,267.

“The Memphis Fire Department deserves every dime of it, and I’m not anti-union, but what I am is anti-B.S. and when you steady coming down the pipeline with it," Cooper-Sutton later said.

The next day, the Memphis Firefighters Association released the following statement in response to Cooper-Sutton's use of the word "rape."

"Last night, a Memphis City Council member accused our firefighters of raping this city. They don’t rape our city; they serve our city. The service and sacrifices of the men and women of the MFD is second to none, garnering cornering national attention. Our firefighters serve the city each and every day with the utmost honor and dedication. They take an oath to lay their lives down for citizens they don't know and have never met. They respond to 500 + calls every day, providing the best fire services in the country. Our fire department runs more calls than any other fire department in this county combined. Our firefighters see more in one day than most citizens will see in their lifetime.

A 5% raise for 2025 was unanimously approved by the council on 2024 and then reduced by the council in 2025 to 3%. Our Firefighters are simply wanting the 2% restored on the originally approved 5%. To have those efforts compared to rape is a shameful, reckless, and unethical comparison. The council has recently addressed a negotiation process and how to improve it moving forward, all while at the same time, not honoring the very process they voted for in favor of in 2024. The council failed to honor its own vote. City government's primary responsibility is to provide services to citizens and visitors. That includes paying the people providing those services. Memphis Firefighters aren’t raping our city, they are doing their JOBS. At some point, we must return to a time where we can trust our elected officials and believe they’re doing the right thing. When will that time be?"