By Luke Broadwater
The Baltimore Sun
BALTIMORE — The Rawlings-Blake administration and Baltimore’s fire unions are battling over the city’s proposal to require firefighters to work longer hours — 24 hours straight, every three days. The mayor says the move — which mirrors staffing trends in other large U.S. cities — will save millions for cash-strapped Baltimore while giving its 1,300 firefighters a huge pay raise by creating a longer work week.
The fire unions, however, say the move would represent a cut to their hourly pay and is unfair to employees who have built their lives around a work schedule that’s been in place for 20 years. Some firefighters also consider the new schedule potentially unsafe, citing fatigue near the end of a 24-hour shift.
Recent closed-door negotiations produced only fierce disagreement, both sides said last week. Now an arbitrator will decide whether the city’s need to save millions overrides firefighters’ resistance to working longer hours.
Full story: Mayor, fire union fight over plan to force 24-hour shifts