NY judge rebuffs firefighters in staffing case

The judge said the provision doesn’t allow the city to prevent the union from seeking binding arbitration over a minimum manning cut

December 17, 2014 11:54 AM

The Buffalo News

LOCKPORT, N.Y. — State Supreme Court Justice Frank Caruso has refused a request from the City of Lockport to bar state arbitration over the city’s reduction in minimum staffing levels in the Fire Department.

But the president of the firefighters union said Tuesday that last week’s ruling won’t do his side much good unless the city comes to the bargaining table.

Neither Caruso nor an arbitrator has the power to force the city to call back any laid-off firefighters, union leader Kevin W. Pratt said. “There’s no immediate impact,” Deputy Corporation Counsel David E. Blackley agreed. The judge rejected the city’s argument that the terms of a 5-year-old agreement with the union allowed it to avoid arbitration on the reduction of minimum manning because of the city’s financial crisis, which led to the layoffs of 13 firefighters in the last 12 months.

Caruso said the provision in question, which sought to set the minimum staffing level at nine firefighters per shift, was not meant to protect jobs but to promote the safety of firefighters at a scene. Thus, he said, although the city has the final say on how many firefighters there are, the provision doesn’t allow the city to prevent the union from seeking binding arbitration over a minimum manning cut.

The city announced plans in April to cut minimum staffing from nine firefighters per shift to seven but was blocked by court order from implementing the move at the time. The order later was lifted, but the city kept staffing levels at nine all summer.

In September, when the city abolished the Fire Department’s ambulance service, it lowered the staffing level to six per shift.

The city stated the key reason for the decisions was to reduce fire overtime, which cost the city more than $620,000 this year. That was about $120,000 over budget.

The department is split into four platoons, with two working each day. If a platoon can’t produce the minimum staffing because of vacations, sicknesses or anything else, other firefighters are called in and paid time-and-a-half for the shift.