Boston Firefighters 'Volunteer' To Fight Brownouts

[Truck4 48]

Good for the boys in Beantown!!

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_...irefigh_10.html

LA also fought off, at least temporarily, proposed brownouts:

http://www.uflac.org/index.cfm?section=1

[Bull McCaffrey 162]

Good for the boys in Beantown!!

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_...irefigh_10.html

LA also fought off, at least temporarily, proposed brownouts:

http://www.uflac.org/index.cfm?section=1

So what happens when one of them gets hurt while at a job? Is the city still going to cover them even though they weren't officially on duty? I think what they're doing is a horrible idea and a dangerous gamble. Basically, in a paid department it amounts to scabbing.

We have "brown outs" everyday pretty much. There can be anywhere from 8-14 companies OOS for medicals, BI, education day etc, etc.

Bottom line is you need to cover your a** and look out for your future. If the city thinks that they can brown out 4 companies and guys will still scab them for free then they'll brown out 8 companies hoping for the same results. Remember, its a JOB. There will always be fires.

[antiquefirelt 994]

So what happens when one of them gets hurt while at a job? Is the city still going to cover them even though they weren't officially on duty? I think what they're doing is a horrible idea and a dangerous gamble. Basically, in a paid department it amounts to scabbing.

We have "brown outs" everyday pretty much. There can be anywhere from 8-14 companies OOS for medicals, BI, education day etc, etc.

Bottom line is you need to cover your a** and look out for your future. If the city thinks that they can brown out 4 companies and guys will still scab them for free then they'll brown out 8 companies hoping for the same results. Remember, its a JOB. There will always be fires.

You don't think they're really going to be allowed to respond or get assigned do you? Fire Alarm has the Companies as OOS and they will not be assigned. If they take the apparatus and respond they'll likely face criminal charges as Menino will do anything to crush them. Sad state for the Brother Jakes.

[nfd2004 750]

With all due respect to the Boston Firefighters, I just can"t seem to realize what they are trying to accomplish by doing this. As I under stand it, they will be manning the firehouse but can"t respond or won"t be dispatched. If they are dispatched, yes its scabbing. I agree with one of the above statemets on this. Who would cover for injuries etc. Certainly a dept the size of Boston or any Career Dept for that matter, volunteering to fight fires just doesn"t make sence when its your paycheck that feeds the kids and pays the bills. I"m sure the IAFF feels the same, and so would other depts.

Maybe I"m just completely Wrong the way I read and understood this. If there is something that I am missing, I ask for your help in understanding it. Thanks.

[Bull McCaffrey 162]

With all due respect to the Boston Firefighters, I just can"t seem to realize what they are trying to accomplish by doing this. As I under stand it, they will be manning the firehouse but can"t respond or won"t be dispatched. If they are dispatched, yes its scabbing. I agree with one of the above statemets on this. Who would cover for injuries etc. Certainly a dept the size of Boston or any Career Dept for that matter, volunteering to fight fires just doesn"t make sence when its your paycheck that feeds the kids and pays the bills. I"m sure the IAFF feels the same, and so would other depts.

Maybe I"m just completely Wrong the way I read and understood this. If there is something that I am missing, I ask for your help in understanding it. Thanks.

Well if you read the article it says that their union leader stated that 5 ffs would staff each of the affected companies and be dispatched and respond to jobs (will they also take in CFRs, Hydrants and lockouts?). The commissioner says that he won't evict his men from the firehouse stating that they can "hang out and have coffee all day but don't do anything to get yourself into a dangerous situation". Seems like Mayor Menino is chomping at the bit to get these guys jammed up the first chance he gets.

My point is, why risk it? Not like the city is going to back them up if they get hurt while acting as vollies. What happens if while responding they wreck the rig? Are they liable to the city for damaging city property? Will there be criminal charges filed? Who knows, why risk it? Seems like the brothers in Beantown are walking a fine line.

And if you think that the public cares about them, well then just read some of the comments left by the fine folk of Boston at the bottom of the article.

Edited July 2, 2009 by Bull McCaffrey

[jfmuller 23]

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachus...n_firefighters/

Some background as to why the public is outraged in their comments.

[nfd2004 750]

Well if you read the article it says that their union leader stated that 5 ffs would staff each of the affected companies and be dispatched and respond to jobs (will they also take in CFRs, Hydrants and lockouts?). The commissioner says that he won't evict his men from the firehouse stating that they can "hang out and have coffee all day but don't do anything to get yourself into a dangerous situation". Seems like Mayor Menino is chomping at the bit to get these guys jammed up the first chance he gets.

My point is, why risk it? Not like the city is going to back them up if they get hurt while acting as vollies. What happens if while responding they wreck the rig? Are they liable to the city for damaging city property? Will there be criminal charges filed? Who knows, why risk it? Seems like the brothers in Beantown are walking a fine line.

And if you think that the public cares about them, well then just read some of the comments left by the fine folk of Boston at the bottom of the article.

That"s Exactly what I am talking about. I just can"t picture the Boston Fire Dept hurting themselves in this way. One of the toughest Depts in this Country. These guys last I knew didn"t have a reputation as some kids playing firemen. They fight fires in one of the busiest cities in the country.

As the above statement from jfmuller, I am shocked to see so many condemning articles on firefighters in that dept. If all that is true, its definitely time to "clean house". And start from the Top Down. I may be contradicting myself because I really don"t know that much about Boston, but did they always hire the "Most Qualified Person" to be a firefighter. If not, that could be the reason for all the trouble that jfmuller points out in Boston.

Along the same line, I know of one dept in Connecticut that recently hired "Convicted Felons", over more qualified people. I"m sure that dept will be facing problems down the road too. Its just a guess on Bostons problems.

[antiquefirelt 994]

I doubt Boston FD is any more screwed up than most of the rest of the workplaces in the country. They've had some bad apples surface in the last few years and their issues were made public unlike most other FD's. Out of 1600 Firefighters 20, 30, or 50 might be boneheads. I'm confident that same percentage (3%) is true in most of our FD's? That means just under one of my guys is probably doing something that might cause a PR problem. I'm sure I know of more issues than that that I'd rather not see in the paper. The point being, most of us don't have City Hall leaking every issue to the press to try and destroy the our image. Menino's cronies have leaked every ugly issue they could to the press.

Boston is a big city with many FD employees (1600 or so) who are all human. I'm sure 3% of most of your FD's employees are doing something you don't want publicized.

[gamewell45 258]

I notice that some people, particularly some of the union brothers, love to throw the word "Scab" around in here. A "Scab" is someone who crosses a picket line and performs struck work or refuses to join a labor union. Call them what you like, but scabs they are not.

[nfd2004 750]

I notice that some people, particularly some of the union brothers, love to throw the word "Scab" around in here. A "Scab" is someone who crosses a picket line and performs struck work or refuses to join a labor union. Call them what you like, but scabs they are not.

Yes Sir, you are correct, some of the Union Brothers do like to throw the word "Scab" around. Although I am NOT a Union Brother anymore since I retired, I understood a "Scab" as somebody to do my job, for less than what I did it for. Union Brother or not, a "Scab" will take "YOUR JOB" and do it for less money at less pay. Thats what I understand a "Scab" to be. Its not just some Amateur trying to take a firefighters job. Its anybody trying to take away, your job, your neighbors job, or your kids job. I guess though for firefighters it holds a little bit more meaning because they risk their lives together, and you"ve heard the saying "One for all and all for one".

[FirNaTine 370]

Bunch of Hypocrites! Then again who knows how many of these Career Guys Volunteer in other Depts. in Mass. If they're that concerned about public safety then forfeit your next raise! You guys up there gotta be kidding me!

[gamewell45 258]

Yes Sir, you are correct, some of the Union Brothers do like to throw the word "Scab" around. Although I am NOT a Union Brother anymore since I retired, I understood a "Scab" as somebody to do my job, for less than what I did it for. Union Brother or not, a "Scab" will take "YOUR JOB" and do it for less money at less pay. Thats what I understand a "Scab" to be. Its not just some Amateur trying to take a firefighters job. Its anybody trying to take away, your job, your neighbors job, or your kids job. I guess though for firefighters it holds a little bit more meaning because they risk their lives together, and you"ve heard the saying "One for all and all for one".

I understand your position, but "Scab" is not the proper terminology to use; I call them something else which cannot be printed in here lest it might violate decency standards that this site maintains.

[Bull McCaffrey 162]

I notice that some people, particularly some of the union brothers, love to throw the word "Scab" around in here. A "Scab" is someone who crosses a picket line and performs struck work or refuses to join a labor union. Call them what you like, but scabs they are not.

Well you know what they say. If the shoe fits....

[IzzyEng4 427]

Bunch of Hypocrites! Then again who knows how many of these Career Guys Volunteer in other Depts. in Mass. If they're that concerned about public safety then forfeit your next raise! You guys up there gotta be kidding me!

Ummm simple...There are no volunteer fire departments in that area of Mass so none of them volunteer.

[IzzyEng4 427]

With all due respect to the Boston Firefighters, I just can"t seem to realize what they are trying to accomplish by doing this. As I under stand it, they will be manning the firehouse but can"t respond or won"t be dispatched. If they are dispatched, yes its scabbing. I agree with one of the above statemets on this. Who would cover for injuries etc. Certainly a dept the size of Boston or any Career Dept for that matter, volunteering to fight fires just doesn"t make sence when its your paycheck that feeds the kids and pays the bills. I"m sure the IAFF feels the same, and so would other depts.

Maybe I"m just completely Wrong the way I read and understood this. If there is something that I am missing, I ask for your help in understanding it. Thanks.

nfd2040 first I want to say I'm not picking on you personally, I just want to make a point here to everyone with your quote.

This is not scabing! How can they be considered a scab (also know as a strikebreaker and a knobstick) when 1. they are not on strike which is where the term originates from, 2. fighting illegal brownouts as outlined under labor relations with the city, and 3. trying to defeat the problems the Mayor Mumbles office has caused over the years with the BFD union. He has been trying to bust them while favoring other unions in the city and giving them what they want. Has anyone every heard of using this as a tactic to keep those houses open. Union locals will used tactics to benefit the workers they represent so that their jobs are safe.

Boston's local is very strong and has been fighting cuts the mayor knows that would cause problems in providing protection. They just lost two district chiefs and those areas had to be re-aligned with other districts. Last night Skip who is on the boards let everyone know on his facebook account that Engine Company 51 in the Oak Square section of Brighton and Engine Company 30 in West Roxbury will be closed until 6:00PM tonight. The other night they had three of 4 fire companies closed overnight also, in a highly populated and dense area of the city!!!! What is next, closing these companies in highly populated and busy areas of a city like Bloomberg did in NYC last time and tried to do this time??? One problem is Boston's tabloids love to pick on all the firefighters in the metro area and manipulated it so bad. But unfortunately for all of Massachusetts, the media is very critical of the firefighters.

I'm sorry guys to put it like this, you all seem to have the "FDNY Kool-aid" in this area and don't understand what Boston does and criticize everything they do. You need to know the history of the area first to understand their tactics when it comes to their jobs and the history of labor relations in Mass in general (it hasn't been pretty with any of the union locals regardless of what union it is). We all (including me) need to do our research before making a comment on a certain tactic against "City Hall".

If you remember the VFIS special about firefighters, there was this one section about a fire in Ipswich, MA where there was 1 firefighter on duty (an IAFF Local) and he had to respond with the ladder truck and three peopled died. The engine was coming from another station with 2 guys farther out. Needless to say there was nothing this guy could do because the rest of his crew was laid off just a few weeks before and the city only had one person per shift in this firehouse. Can anyone down here imagine that happening at their local FD????? Sick huh??? This happens far to often in MA and the locals see this and this is why they don't want any more cuts and will do anything to stop it, even working for "free".

Go to Capecodfd.com or firenews.org for example check out the department rosters for the career departments in Mass and check out how many stations versus "permanent" and "on-call" personnel are on some of these departments (some have been career for many years while other have converted from volunteers in recent years). You will be shocked.

DEFINITION OF SCAB: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strikebreaker