43
Youngstown won’t take a fire truck off the road
YOUNGSTOWN
A plan to save $1 million annually in the fire department without taking a truck off the road is a go as long as the city gets the full cooperation of firefighters, said Mayor John A. McNally and Fire Chief John J. O’Neill Jr.
David Cook, president of the firefighters union, said that won’t be an issue as it was the union’s membership that came up with the plan after objecting to one from McNally and O’Neill.
The mayor and chief said Thursday that they agree with a counterproposal from the union that avoids taking a firetruck off the road starting next month.
The original plan, made in July, by McNally and O’Neill was not to use a truck and eliminate three captains, three lieutenants and two firefighters through attrition.
The plan was expected to save $1 million a year starting in 2015.
Union officials objected, saying taking one of the city’s 10 firetrucks away from the department was dangerous.
The union’s proposal, made last week, eliminates eight positions — all firefighters — through attrition, and keeps the truck while agreeing to have no more than seven of its members on vacation at any given time, down from eight.
That makes work and vacation schedules easier to manage thus save money, Cook and O’Neill said.
The department is supposed to have 138 members, but will be down to 130 by Feb. 3, O’Neill said.
“The most problematic part of the proposal is that it leaves the department with very little staff on each turn,” McNally and O’Neill wrote in a letter to Cook. “There is very little allowance for sickness, injury, death-in-family or other approved forms of leave.”
The union also proposed a $100,000 increase in overtime because of the reduced staff.
Because the department’s employees are younger than any in recent years, the $100,000 increase in overtime won’t be needed, O’Neill said.
“The department is so young so there will be less sick time, less vacation time and less salary,” he said.
The eight members of the department who have left or will leave each received six weeks of vacation a year. New firefighters don’t get vacation time until they’ve been with the city for a year and then it’s only two weeks annually until they’ve been with the department for more than five years, O’Neill said.
The estimated savings for the department is $1,035,000 annually — slightly better than O’Neill’s original $1 million estimate.
“My numbers were too low,” he said. “I underestimated the savings in salaries and vacation pay between a retiree and a new hire.”
The city will review the fire department expenses throughout 2015, and if the savings don’t materialize, it will shut down a firetruck, McNally said.
“If the firefighters follow their suggestions, this will work,” he said. “Their proposed changes are needed for this to be successful. The union did a great job with this proposal.”
It is up to the union to make this work, Cook said.
“The onus is on us,” he said. “We were given the opportunity to come up with a plan, and we did. It’s a win-win for everyone. It would have been challenging and potentially devastating if we lost a truck. Our goal is to make this work well enough in the next year so the city can fill the eight vacancies.”