By Todd Cooper
The World-Herald
OMAHA, Neb. — The Omaha firefighters union sued the city this week — saying city officials have failed to comply with a state labor commission’s ruling on staffing levels for firetrucks, among other issues.
The lawsuit asks a Douglas County district judge to require the city to comply with the minimum staffing level of four firefighters per truck — and to reward union members with back pay for the times in 2008 that rigs went out with less than a full complement.
John Corrigan, an attorney for the firefighters union, said union officials don’t have an estimate of how much the city would owe.
Firetruck staffing levels were the subject of a policy debate two years ago — sparked in large part by Omaha City Councilman Dan Welch’s proposal that the city lower the minimum number of firefighters per truck to three.
However, the council kept the minimum level at four after union officials contended that reducing the number would endanger public safety.
Fire Chief Mike McDonnell said the city is well-aware of its requirement to have four firefighters per truck. In December, the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations compared Omaha to several other cities and upheld the city’s four-firefighter staffing level.
McDonnell said the city has, at times, run three people on a truck so firefighters could attend training or meet ongoing educational requirements.
He said the city is working with the union to iron out how to accomplish such training while ensuring that four firefighters remain on each truck.
“Our goal is always to maintain a minimum of four people on a firetruck,” McDonnell said. “Logistically, we’ve got to work on how we’re going to do that and meet our training needs. But we will follow the order of the CIR.”
The union also filed suit on a range of issues — from discrepancies in step pay levels to uniform allowances, from pay for specialized duties to the back pay owed for 2008.
Bernard in den Bosch, an assistant city attorney, said the city is working with the union to resolve those matters.
Calculating back pay is an “incredibly burdensome process,” he said. The city hopes to finish in the next few months.
Meanwhile, the Omaha police union and the city await court and commission rulings on that union’s lawsuits over police pay.
Copyright 2009 The Omaha World-Herald Company