Middletown mayor hopes to bring down firefighter OT with part-timers

[ace84 100]

Middletown mayor hopes to bring down firefighter OT with part-timers

DeStefano also wants to explore enhancing the 27 full-time paid drivers with part-timers. "We're talking about paid staff to supplement the existing full time staff to cover overtime shifts and vacation shifts that we could utilize part time employees in the fire department," he said. The mayor said it is permissible under civil service law and they have called for a civil service list to canvass to see who would be interested

http://www.midhudson...OT-29Nov11.html

[x129K 1,393]

Interesting...not sure how I feel about this. Yet.

Were ANY full timers laid off to be replaced with part timers?

THIS...I KNOW how I feel about;

DeStefano also hopes to lower overtime costs by taking equipment out of service when applicable and reducing staff by selling the more than 25-year-old two-man hook and ladder truck and replacing it with a new one-man vehicle.

This POLITICIAN thinks, beleives, and wants a ONE MAN Truck Company...VERY SCARY.

I imagine their vollie member base is adequate enough where the professional firemen are referred to as "drivers"..what is their typical truck company staffing when it rolls out the door?

Edited November 29, 2011 by x129K

[dashield 61]

Interesting...not sure how I feel about this. Yet.

Were ANY full timers laid off to be replaced with part timers?

THIS...I KNOW how I feel about;

This POLITICIAN thinks, beleives, and wants a ONE MAN Truck Company...VERY SCARY.

I imagine their vollie member base is adequate enough where the professional firemen are referred to as "drivers"..what is their typical truck company staffing when it rolls out the door?

Middletown's career firefighters staff 5 engines and 2 trucks with 1 FF on each, though they will typically only have 3 engines in service due to a FF covering the desk and vacation spots.. Their current Truck 1 is a tiller truck so that obviously is staffed with two FF's. They will be replacing that with a straight stick to supposedly "save on staffing". I personally have always found their staffing to be less than ideal, for fires they only send 2 & 1 which is only a maximum of 4 guys if truck 1 was sent. Personally it would make more sense to send all of your career guys, but to each their own......

It is going to be very interesting how this plays out as far as basically replacing full-time positions with part-timers. I am not aware of any part-time FF's in this area.

[v85 212]

Did it recently change to 2 & 1, I thought I have heard alarms with 3 & 1 being sent. I also assume the vollies respond directly to the scene?

[dashield 61]

Did it recently change to 2 & 1, I thought I have heard alarms with 3 & 1 being sent. I also assume the vollies respond directly to the scene?

I am no longer an avid scanner buff but the only boxes that used to get 3 engines was the hospital and some schoosl, but it might be 3 & 1 know. Vollies go right to the scene so often times the career guys are by themselves initially.

[v85 212]

You are probably right. I think the box that I was thinking of was the hospital. It's been a long time since I've listened to CMFD's internal dispatch channel, normally I just listen to the county on my pager.

[gamewell45 258]

Middletown mayor hopes to bring down firefighter OT with part-timers

http://www.midhudson...OT-29Nov11.html

I think its a bad idea; primarily because you'll have created in essence a second class citizen by hiring part timers; it would also give the city the opportunity to pit the part timers against the full timers at contract time.

I have seen this happen before in other unionized shops and it creates more problems then it solves. The city ought to re-think this.

[AndyC3J 190]

The "target hazards" (high school, hospital, college, etc.) used to get 3 and 2. That's how much they've cut back already.

Funny how Mayor DeStefano wants to make so many cuts to the paid force when only a few months ago, he was saying how Middletown should be first due to the new hospital (located in Mechanicstown's district) since the paid drivers can get there faster than Mechanicstown's vollies.

During DeStefano's last reign as mayor, he wanted to cut the paid men altogether, make the department completely volunteer and have the police handle dispatching. He also at one point suspended the then-Chief for his actions of trying to encourage Middletown residents to dial MFD's seven digit phone line to report emergencies, rather than 911.

There are two Middletown engines sitting in a certain nearby warehouse (old E4 and E6, replaced in 2009.....E6 had been used as a spare before the financial issues came about). Both would still make fine front line equipment for some less fortunate department somewhere. Sell them if they need the money so bad.

[spin_the_wheel 460]

So thats why they are going with a straight stick. If I recall they have some very tight old narrow roads, there was a reason they had a tiller for over 150 years.

[AndyC3J 190]

There's also a reason why Engine 6 was kept as the spare, instead of 4's.......shorter wheelbase! There's one street in town that 6's old Pierce is the only rig that can get into that block on the first try. Thankfully they don't go there much.

[JBE 328]

He's got it out for the teachers, too. My girlfriend refuses to go to the bar that the Mayor owns because of his stand towards the teachers.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

I love the lengths some people will go to supposedly save a buck. Anyone who takes those positions should be ashamed of themselves.

[firecapt32 282]

Just wondering what the training requirements would be for part timers?? do they have to complete the 229 hours of the law? Physicals? mask fit testing and all that goes with the requirements? Might be some can of worms that gets opened here.

[x129K 1,393]

. Anyone who takes those positions should be ashamed of themselves.

Yet the line will be a mile long for guys trying to get in........

[FireMedic049 597]

I love the lengths some people will go to supposedly save a buck. Anyone who takes those positions should be ashamed of themselves.

Assuming there will be no layoffs of current personnel or elimination of any currently vacant positions, why should somebody be ashamed to take the job?

[FireMedic049 597]

I think its a bad idea; primarily because you'll have created in essence a second class citizen by hiring part timers; it would also give the city the opportunity to pit the part timers against the full timers at contract time.

Since this appears to be a combination department, you essentially already have 2 classes - career and volunteer. Additionally, the part-timers would only be "second class" if the department chooses to treat them that way.

I have seen this happen before in other unionized shops and it creates more problems then it solves. The city ought to re-think this.

I work in a career department that added part-time personnel six years ago. It was done largely as a way to reduce some personnel expenses. In our experience, overall it has been a very positive thing and most of the "problems" created have been pretty insignificant so far.

We lost 4 full-time positions (via attrition) in conjunction with this, however we maintained our average shift staffing level and on some days we had an "extra" guy. In a month, our daily minimum increases by 1 and more than likely, we'll get those 4 positions back at some point in the next year once they start racking up the overtime again. When that happens, we'll see an increase in our average shift staffing level.

We didn't have any FT vs PT problems with our only negotiation since they started. In part, because our PT guys are part of the Local and we made sure that we addressed their issues too.

[ace84 100]

The mayor is also trying to cut the police hiring and have the Orange County Sheriffs full the void in the city