JOHN L. SMITH
Las Vegas Review-Journal

The building is fully engulfed in flames. Steadfast and silhouetted against the searing heat, a lone firefighter battles the blaze.

It's a dramatic reminder of the inherent dangers of the profession and the raging hell firefighters experience. As if that picture weren't worth a thousand words, union representatives of North Las Vegas firefighters add a few choice phrases of their own in an advertisement due to break Wednesday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"The Firefighters of North Las Vegas are here to help," the ad proclaims.

That depends on your definition of "help." North Las Vegas city officials recently questioned whether the firefighters are doing enough to assist the local government as it attempts to offset recession-ravaged revenues.

With public sentiment being shaped these days by an ongoing mortgage crisis and a high unemployment rate, labor organizations are challenged as desperate local governments search for cuts without endangering residents. While most unions seem content to negotiate behind closed doors, North Las Vegas firefighters are shrewdly taking their case to the street - or at least to the pages of the Review-Journal.

From the dramatic sepia tone of the advertisement, it's clear North Las Vegas firefighters union President Jeff Hurley of IAFF Local 1607 believes a good offense is the best defense.

He says the ad is meant to correct public misperceptions that the firefighters aren't willing to make concessions.

Far from being selfish, he says, they're giving up pay and benefits totaling $3.45 million with $2.4 million coming in the next 12 months. He reminds me the firefighters' cost-of-living increase, which is on the chopping block, is 3.45 percent annually under the current contract.

Meanwhile, city officials have the unenviable task of laying off 204 employees in an effort to save $33.4 million. They've set a course that could result in the termination of 16 firefighters and the reduction of a fire engine crew at Station 52.

While North Las Vegas Mayor Shari Buck is lauded for defending the department, the ad takes the City Council to task for rejecting what the union believes is a responsible offer. The rhetoric is almost as heated as the building in the ad.

To wit: "But in a stunning display of fiscal irresponsibility, the four city council members (one of them has less than nine months on the job) declined and rejected our offer that could have resulted in more savings while protecting your safety.

" With its stubborn refusal to accept our offer, the North Las Vegas City Council is jeopardizing public safety. Please ask the North Las Vegas City Council to accept our offer so we can improve our city's economic health and protect our community with the same committed firefighters who are on the job today."

I suspect whether the firefighters' dramatic advertisement is effective in the long run will depend in large part on one factor that's outside the control of either the union or the city: the flagging Southern Nevada economy. If business improves, the pressure to make deeper cuts - and by doing so substantially increase service call times - will diminish. If the economy remains flat or worsens, it's a sure bet we haven't heard the last from the ax man - and I don't mean one in the fireproof suit.

The heated atmosphere leads IAFF official Rusty McAllister to conclude the time is right for the consolidation of Southern Nevada's fire departments into a regional entity that would save money, conserve resources and improve service. This is a development worth watching closely.

Whether you consider setting aside a contracted cost-of-living increase a pay cut or a raise cut, the fact remains: This time the North Las Vegas firefighters are showing they're willing to call on the public to come to their rescue.

A fire is burning. Smoke is visible.

Will taxpayers facing hard times answer the bell?

Copyright 2010 DR Partners d/b/a Las Vegas Review-Journal
All Rights Reserved
April 13, 2010