After years of animosity and protests between Yonkers fire officers and City Hall, the two sides have finally reached a contract agreement.

Yonkers firefighters helped Mayor Mike Spano's campaign for office in 2011, but that relationship has soured in recent years, particularly for members of the Fire Officers Union. Those firefighters, who spread a message of goodwill at this year's St. Patrick's Day parade, were entrenched in a war of words with City Hall for seven years.

The two sides hammered out a deal that will give firefighters a raise of a little more than 2 percent over 10 years. Disagreements over concessions regarding line-of-duty injuries and other issues stalled negotiations many times.

Mayor Spano says the new contracts are expensive and cost taxpayers a lot of money, meaning the city had to try to offset the increased cost.

Retiree benefits are not part of the new contract, but were another point of contention as both sides tried to work out a deal.

The City Council still must approve the contract. If it does so next month, the fire union officers will start seeing their raises in July.

As for the officers' retroactive pay back to 2009, that will be made in three payments over three years.