ELGIN, Ill. — A firefighters’ union filed a labor complaint after three members were told to cut their hair they had been growing to protest a contract dispute.
Daily Herald reported that they had started letting their hair grow because firefighters have been working without a contract since January 2014.
The three were ordered to cut their hair by their supervisors. The filed complaint said the department made grooming policy changes without first bargaining with the union.
Fire Chief John Fahy said the department’s policy states members’ personal appearance will be “neat and clean,” according to the report.
“We don’t have a hair problem within the Elgin Fire Department,” Chief Fahy said. “We have 133 members and we have three members that are angry about the process of arbitration.”
The contract is stuck in arbitration over a provision regarding minimum staffing.