PROVIDENCE, R.I. — About 90 firefighters protested Monday night outside a fundraiser for Mayor Jorge Elorza in their ongoing shift-change battle.
The Providence Journal reported that the protest was called to “sound the alarm about the fiscal cliff that the mayor is driving off.” Firefighters and their supporters protested outside the building the mayor was in, shouting boos and curse words.
Paul Doughty, president of Local 799 of the International Association of Firefighters, said one question the mayor has failed to answer is what happens if the city loses its appeal of the shift change.
The union calculates that the city would owe $10 million to $20 million in back pay and overtime to firefighters.
“We urge the mayor to take prudent actions and either sit down with the firefighters or create an escrow account to avoid the certain fiscal collapse of the city,” Doughty said.
A Superior Court judge in September ordered the city and union to use grievance arbitration to settle their dispute over Elorza’s changing the fire department’s shift structure.
Instead of working 42 hours per week, firefighters are working 48 hours every six days for an average of 56 hours per week. The mayor raised firefighter pay by 8 percent to compensate for the 33 percent increase in the work week, which is designed to reduce overtime and callback expenses.