Bridgeport Employees To Get $5M Payment For Work During COVID Pandemic

BRIDGEPORT, CT — Bridgeport essential workers, first responders, and city and school board employees who worked during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak in 2020 will receive a one-time premium payment, officials said last week.

Mayor Joe Ganim joined city employees and the Board of Education on Thursday at the Margaret E. Morton Government Center to announce the $5 million payment.

“As we look forward to better days, we want to look back and say thank you to all our teachers, firefighters, sanitation workers, police officers, healthcare professionals and many more who through this extremely difficult time took it upon themselves to be leaders, critical thinkers, activists,” Ganim said in a city news release.

Premium pay was authorized by Congress as part of the American Rescue Plan Act, and the City Council supported it in a 76-19 vote. In addition to their usual income, city and Board of Education employees will receive $1,500 in premium pay. The city of Bridgeport payment will total $3.25 million, while the Board of Education payment will come out to $2.1 million.

"The city of Bridgeport mourns the loss of valuable city workers and members of our community who died as a result of the devastating coronavirus outbreak," the news release said.