By CLEVE R. WOOTSON JR.
Charlotte Observer (North Carolina)
As Gastonia fire officials and city administrators sort out the recent departure of six firefighters, one City Council member is worried that many more have plans to leave.
Six firefighters resigned from the department within two days earlier this year — the largest number of resignations over such a period, said Fire Chief Ken Lay.
But there’s more to the story than those six departures, said City Council member Dale Burkett, the former battalion chief who retired when he was elected to the council last year and has become a de facto spokesperson for firefighters. He said as many as 45 firefighters have put in applications at other fire departments. The more than 100-year-old Gastonia fire department has about 130 firefighters based in eight stations.
“You’re going to have people that seek advancement in life -- individuals look for opportunities to advance,” Burkett said Thursday. “But when you have these large numbers going, it’s a sign of something.”
That something is low pay, firefighters have said. In September, 75 firefighters attended a council meeting in red T-shirts to protest what they said was one of the lowest starting-pay rates in the state.
The fire chief and City Manager Ed Munn both said there are more than enough applicants to fill the recently vacated positions. City officials have called for a pay study of the city’s 900 employees. Results are due in March, and Munn said the city is not on the verge of an exodus of city employees.
“Our turnover rates are the same as the city of Charlotte, less than the city of Concord,” Munn told the Observer in early January. “It’s not excessive. And we have turnover all the time. ... We also have a strong applicant pool of new people who want to be firefighters.”
But Burkett said the turnover rate for firefighters could continue to increase. “You will keep on seeing more and more of them leave until a couple pay levels go up,” Burkett said.
New applicants also have to be trained, he said, and they have to work to become part of their new teams. Even with turnover, three-man teams of firefighters would still be able to respond to blazes in the city, but they might respond with less knowledge or ability, Burkett said. “You’re subject to having people arrive at the fire with less experience.”