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Permalink Reply by steve on March 11, 2009 at 1:25pm

The way i see this is, if the department would paya little more then they wouldn't have to worry about guys haveing second jobs...If the big city officals wouldn't worry about filling their pockets first..thats the problem..Us firefighters always get the scraps

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Permalink Reply by John Metallo on March 11, 2009 at 1:30pm

This is a joke. As long as they are not moon lighting in a capacity that would impact the crews that are on duty that day, there should be no issue. I actually had the oppertunity to live in the border town of Bellingham, MA and am fimiliar with Woonsocket RI. There are numerous paid and volunteer organizations that are in the area that can provide mutual aid to this city if needed and is has happened on numerous calls involving large confligrations of old mill structures in this city. So if a paid firefighter doesn't respond on a call back there are more than enough resources.

As for the stopping the engine on a medical response that is just a reduction of service that is not in the cities or citizens best interest. Without knowing the stats for EMS in Woonsocket I can only guess that this is the majority of their responses as it is for most departments these days. To reduce the level of service to the city is not a good PR move. Also you need to take into consideration some of the less desirable neighborhoods that require extra responders for a security presence. If they remove the engine I am sure that they are not going to add police officer escorts or details for EMS calls.

I don't think that either of these moves are good for business and think that at the end of the day the firefighters, their families and the citizens of Woonsocket will suffer for it!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Paul Young on March 11, 2009 at 1:57pm

As a two hatter myself, there have been discussions about part time, but only as far as conflict of interests...ie remember which job is the primary one. Our city has a policy that states we must inform them of any secondary employment. This is to prevent any of those conflicts, such as an outside vendor that sells to FD's, or now they, many cities not just mine, are looking at hazardous part time jobs. Some firefighters hang Christmas lights and there have been some serious injuries and one death attributed to that in this area over the last couple of years. If the city is trying to protect their financial investment in the employee, that is one thing. To protect an overtime list to keep from hiring the needed personnel, that is another. Now, cutting back on manpower on any emergency scene for cost reduction is ludacris at best.

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Permalink Reply by Joel C Kelley on March 11, 2009 at 2:04pm

So let me get this straight, Union firefighters cannot be barred from taking second jobs, but they can be barred from volunteering as firefighters in their own communities????

I don't get it.

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Permalink Reply by James Young on March 11, 2009 at 2:41pm

If a firefighter chooses to have a second job, then they should be allowed to as long as it doesn't interfere with there schedule with the fire department. What they do on there off days with the fire dept. is there business not the fire dept.

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Permalink Reply by Carmella Hoffman on March 11, 2009 at 2:46pm

What will they do next??? How can they tell you that you can't have an extra job to make money--and aren't they talking out of both sides of their mouths when they lay off a bunch then force overtime on those left. And to take the engine off the rescue calls?? How about the false alarms--maybe they should just send out the chief to check all the calls out before they move a truck--wouldn't that save money? These people should work in the field before they try to run it!

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Permalink Reply by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on March 11, 2009 at 2:56pm

This is the same city that was set to lay off 40 cops and 60 firefighters.
From February 17th: PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- The city of Woonsocket is warning it may have to lay off as many as 40 police personnel and 60 firefighters after a Superior Court judge this morning told the city it cannot unilaterally cut salaries or increase employee insurance premiums to close a $3.6 million budget gap.

Joseph Rodio, the lawyer the city hired to handle giveback talks with its unions, said the notices could go out as early as the end of this week if the city can't reach agreement on salary or health insurance savings for the last five months of the current budget year.

Negotiations were set for this afternoon between the city and the police union. International Brotherhood of Police Officers general Counsel Gary T. Gentile said the union was aware of the city's layoff threat.

"It's looming and as such we're obviously trying to work with them," he said.

Joseph A. Andriole, staff representative for the International Association of Fire Fighters, said his union was proposing its own cost reductions, which he would not detail. He said if the city went forward and issued the layoff notices, the union would be in court the next morning contesting them.

Rodio said a ruling in chambers this morning by Associate Justice Mark A. Pfeiffer forced the city's hand. Rodio said Pfeiffer ordered the city repay a 5 percent pay cut and 15 percent share of health insurance costs it had imposed on the police and firefighters last week. If the city cannot achieve the savings by imposing the changes, Rodio said, layoffs were the only alternative.

The city says the givebacks are needed to close a $3.6 million shortfall that will be created if Governor Carcieri's proposed cuts in state aid to cities and towns are approved by the General Assembly.

The city has reached giveback agreements with the two unions representing its City Hall workers, and the 5 percent salary cuts and 15 percent share of health insurance premiums have already been imposed on nonunion and management staff.
My

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Permalink Reply by jason lassiter on March 11, 2009 at 3:50pm

i dont thing they should be able to tell them what to do in there off time

and maybe if they got payed enough they might not have second jobs

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Permalink Reply by Dave on March 11, 2009 at 4:55pm

If i recall this dept took a forced cut in pay, and a forced increase in health care payments. If i recall it might have been as much as 10% pay cut. So, how many here can take a 10% pay cut , and a rather large increase in healthcare and not feel the need to make up for lost wages? imagine loosing almost 100.00 to 150.00 a week out of your paycheck, and then being told you cant make up for lost wages by working outside the dept...nothing says your gonna get the over time!

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Permalink Reply by Chad Furr on March 11, 2009 at 5:02pm

I belive there should be no need for "Moonlighting". IF FF's got paid what they deserved!!! Which we all know that will never happen. So in the mean time I say if it does not interfere with your performance as a FF then go for it. After all isnt that what this country is based on??Hard work and perserverance?? How is this any diff. from a cop from doing off duty security?? Just my 2 cents worth from a Vollie.

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Permalink Reply by emodfd on March 11, 2009 at 5:09pm

This is another example of city officials who cannot look past thier own noses to make cuts. I work in big urban dept and always say I could cut our budget by a million dollars in about 1 hour if they would give me a pencil and make me king for a day. The waste and unneccesary jobs in the city is crazy! I work off duty ,however I make being a proffessional fireman the first priority and the majority of us do. The history of firefighters is of folks who worked and fought fire and served the community when called and I know that the firefighters in this country are the best . We come when called, drop everything ,and give it all ,end of story!

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Permalink Reply by Zach on March 11, 2009 at 5:27pm

lol.....I agree with most of what you said, except for this part....

"overtime at the station is just as hard as a PT job"

I build houses on the side, (when there's work) and do rough carpentry. Station work is not nearly as taxing on your body as rough carpentry is. I don't care how many hoses you roll or how many trucks you polish, working outside in the heat of the summer in the sun, or in the dead of winter with 2 feet of snow everywhere, building takes more energy. I guess if there were a 6 or 7 hour long fire every shift, then yea, it would be comparable, but the departments where you can pretty much count on a good, working structure fire are EXTREMELY rare. Detroit, Youngstown Ohio, Gary Indiana, and Flint Michigan might, but not many actually do. Not even FDNY or Chicago fight that much fire.

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