Providence, RI FFs in battle with Mayor

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nfd2004

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The Providence, RI Firefighters are in a battle with their mayor who wants to put the firefighters on a 56 hour work week instead of their current 40 hours.

An interesting point here is that the mayor recently spoke of the need to add more firefighters due to a current shortage. Of course he was backed by the local firefighters union and members of the department. But what he didn't tell in that news conference he told in a more recent news conference of just how he planned to do that.

  Just about three weeks after he requested more firefighters he announced his plan. That is to put the Providence Firefighters on a 56 hour work week rather than their current 42 hours.

  Another interesting point, just prior to all this, the mayor took part in what the Providence Fire Department called "Fire Ops 101". In that one day session, individuals as well as local politicians got a chance to go through four or five simulations of doing the job as a Providence Firefighter. One involved a dummy drag through a smoke filled area, another was forcing a door etc. When the mayor completed that day, he said how exhausting the job was and said he gained a great respect for what the Providence Firefighters do.

  Shortly after, the mayor was invited to ride with the Providence Fire Department out of Providence Fire Headquarters. There is an engine, a ladder, a heavy rescue, a deputy chief and an ambulance called Rescue 4. He rode with Rescue 4, a very busy unit. He got to see it all.

  Yet after all that he decides to stab the firefighters who were so good to him, right in the back. I tried to post some of the stories here but it just didn't work. If you want to follow up on this story, I got this information from the Providence Firefighters Facebook page. The mayor states the city is in the loss by 20 million dollars and this is part of his plan to straighten it out. In addition, many retirees have not received their pension checks on the dates they have been promised.

  Today, Sunday May 31st, there is a meeting and fund raiser taking place at the Providence Firefighters Hall regarding this matter. This mayor won the endorsement of the Providence Firefighters during his election campaign. He has turned his back on the people who helped him get elected.

  If anybody can post some of these news reports here regarding this subject, I'd appreciate it. There's been a few over the last few weeks.
 
Three and one half years later and what was the final result of this mayors decision to just ORDER the Providence Firefighters to work a 56 hour work week rather than their contract agreed 42 hour work week ?
It was that mayors plan to increase those hours in order to save on cost of benefits of hiring new firefighters.

1) Of course the Providence Firefighters IAFF 799 fought this. They won their case and as a result, ALL of those firefighters who were forced to work those extra hour were paid the time and a half which they were owed. Costing the city much more.

2) Many of the more senior firefighters and officers who might have planned to stay longer decided to retire. Their families were also suffering because the members were ordered to stay and could NOT go home. Some reported they were required to stay for three days around the clock with only 12 hours off before returning back to work.

3) As more members decided to retire, the problem got worse. In addition, these were the more experienced firefighters and officers the city was loosing.

TODAY - As a result of this action, 75 % of the Providence Fire Dept has less than 5 years on the job. Roughly 300 of the 400 member department. One member told me his 3 year old grandson will probably be able to take the next Providence Firefighters test.
In 20 years, there will be NO Younger members who are in the prime of their life to fight fires. The average age of a firefighter might be 45 - 50 years old.

Now the belief is that EVERY member who passes the recently given Lts test will be offered the job.

Since the rehiring started there has been four proby classes that have been pushed through. The latest class of about 70 members. One member told me that the group is broken up into 12-15 each. As a example, each one of those groups is only allowed about THREE Hours of Forcible Entry Training. That gives very little time to learn the "hands on" practice.

Yet today, as you read the story on this site of "Surviving a May Day" in the "Videography Section", that Providence Firefighter who was trapped when the entire roof came down on him while he was running out of air and his leg was burning up through his bunker pants, credits many of those younger firefighters with saving his life. He is alive today and back on the job because of them.

Also credit goes to those Instructors and the officers for the on going training that has been holding this entire department together.

Many believe that the reason this mayor took such action against the fire department, and NO OTHER City Dept, was because the Firefighters Union did NOT endorse this mayor when he was campaigning for the mayors job. 

 

 
What is the unit staffing and the number of units? I know Engine 4 and 5 and 4 Truck did not come back, but there was thought one of them might.  Also they were down to a DAC and BC on each shift.  Now I hear there are three Battalions and DAC and a Safety Chief on each shift  (sure helps that those 799 folks that managed to get the number of Chief reduced, got the number increased when it was there turn for promotion).  It is true that all companies now have proper minimum staffing of 4?  How many of the members are ALS certified?

Having a younger firefighting force is probably not a bad thing with the rigors of firefighting and the cultural changes that have occurred in the fire business.  What we did in the 70's and 80's is, much to my chagrin, is not appropriate these days.  Just a fact of life.

Stay safe brother
 
"Maxim", I will check on the three Battalions. Yes, a Safety Chief has been added though. I don't believe it was the plan of IAFF 799 to reduce the Battalion Chiefs position "hoping" to later "increase" that position to be used at a later advantage for their benefit.

You are correct, there no longer is Engines 4 and 5, and Ladder 4. Leaving a large portion of the East Side of that city without fire protection.
Also with the closing of Ladder 4 to cover parts of the East Side and the downtown area, "Ladder 1 - already the busiest ladder in the city (in fact one of the busiest Ladder Companies in the COUNTRY) now their runs have increased even more.

The manning level for the Providence Fire Companies is 3 or 4, including the officer based on the response area. I've also been told that apparently there are some extra firefighters that have been hired. Therefore with no vacations or book offs, some companies could ride with five members during the slower time off  months.

Yes, the younger members are fine now, but 15-20 years from now they will be much older. That will put a strain on the departments ability to function at physically demanding operations.

The way things were back in the 70s and 80s are much different from now. Many of us who have been around awhile often discuss that. But for a city like Providence, the closely packed large wood frame buildings still exist throughout many parts of the city. Unless there is a quick aggressive attack, it doesn't take much for a fire to spread from one building to the next.

The roof that came down on Firefighter Rinaldi last January (see: Surviving a May Day) was actually the exposure "2" or "B" side building. That fire had quickly spread from the original fire building to that exposure with a report of a civilian still inside. 
 
Yes folks "Maxim" is correct. IAFF 799 members DID bargain to get back Battalion 2 and add another Battalion, as well as the Safety Battalion.

Thanks Maxim. As you know I'm not too far from Providence, but I was NOT aware of the additional chiefs added. 
 
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