The Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Fire Chief James Breen says Albuquerque firefighters are calling in sick more frequently on the weekends, which could blow a hole in the department’s overtime budget.
They are seeking sick days more often on weekends than weekdays and the city is doling out roughly twice as much regular overtime as it has budgeted, he said. That trend could result in a $1.2 million deficit by the end of the year.
In a memo sent Friday that outraged the firefighter union’s leadership, Breen implied that some of the sick leave is not legitimate and asked firefighters to help keep costs down.
Breen appealed to firefighters’ “professionalism.”
“Keep in mind that when you use sick leave for illegitimate reasons, you are betraying your fellow firefighters and those you have sworn to protect,” he said in the memo. “We all have a stake in addressing this problem now, while it’s still manageable.”
As a last resort, the city would consider taking some firetrucks out of service — something known as a “brownout” — if less-drastic measures don’t result in savings, Breen said in an interview. That’s a worst-case scenario not under consideration at this point, he said.
But he said city finances are too tight to just provide an extra appropriation to cover the increased spending.
Diego Arencón, president of the firefighters’ union, said he was “appalled” by the memo. Sick leave is being made a scapegoat, he said, while the real problem is retirements triggered by the city’s having cut firefighter pay about 2.5 percent. Those retirements could be causing the overtime.
“Proposing ‘brownouts’ is an egregious and irresponsible measure putting the citizens of Albuquerque at risk,” Arencón said in a written statement to the Journal.
The union doesn’t condone sick leave abuse, he said. The three-month period cited by Breen may simply be an anomaly, Arencón said, or it might fit with historical patterns.
Furthermore, the Fire Department routinely overspends its overtime budget, he said, because not enough money is set aside for it.
It’s “the fault of the administration that the amount is not adequate to cover overtime actually incurred in normal, let alone exigent circumstances,” Arencón said.
Breen countered that the amount set aside for overtime is consistent with past budgets.
And he disputed that retirements have shrunk the force any more than usual. He said firefighters are always retiring and the fire academy is always training others to replace them.
Firefighters are using three times as much sick leave on weekends as on weekdays, Breen said. About 17 people have been calling in sick on Saturdays and Sundays, for example, while only about five do so a day during most of the workweek.
“I can’t explain why there’s been a surge,” Breen said.
He said he doesn’t believe there’s any “collective labor action” under way to abuse sick leave. The problem is likely attributable to “a few individuals,” he said.
The department will take steps to manage sick leave for now, he said. Firefighters with excessive leave will be asked to provide doctor’s notes or other documentation justifying their absence.
Support staff may also be called on to fill vacancies, Breen said.
“This is manageable. We can do this,” he said. But “we need this on track immediately.”
Copyright 2010 Albuquerque Journal