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Rhode Island Town May Stop Firefighters from Having Second Jobs
WOONSOCKET, R.I. (AP) -- Union officials are questioning a proposal by Woonsocket city leaders that would bar firefighters from having second jobs.
City leaders are concerned that recent layoffs in the fire department will put additional strain on firefighters who could face forced overtime.
City attorney Chris Lambert tells The Call of Woonsocket that moonlighting firefighters risk additional on-the-job fatigue and stress. The new rule, if approved, would take effect in April.
Firefighters union President Lt. Steve Reilly questioned whether the city has the legal authority to prohibit firefighters from moonlighting, or how the restrictions could be realistically enforced.
The city may also eliminate the policy of sending engines on rescue runs.
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Information from: The Call, http://www.woonsocketcall.com
Read the Full Story on the Call Site: Woonsocket bans firefighter moonlighting
City leaders are concerned that recent layoffs in the fire department will put additional strain on firefighters who could face forced overtime.
City attorney Chris Lambert tells The Call of Woonsocket that moonlighting firefighters risk additional on-the-job fatigue and stress. The new rule, if approved, would take effect in April.
Firefighters union President Lt. Steve Reilly questioned whether the city has the legal authority to prohibit firefighters from moonlighting, or how the restrictions could be realistically enforced.
The city may also eliminate the policy of sending engines on rescue runs.
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Information from: The Call, http://www.woonsocketcall.com
Read the Full Story on the Call Site: Woonsocket bans firefighter moonlighting
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lance Wilkinson on
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How is it cheaper to lay off firefighters and then turn around and force firefighter to work overtime??
I work a second job because I have to, if my full time job wanted me to quit my part time job they would need to give me a big raise.
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Permalink Reply by Ethan Richards on
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Thats wrong. It is so har to get a job nowadays those firemen are lucky to have other jobs. It's none of the town's business what they do when they're off duty. And let the firemen decide what is "stressful" because they might like their second job also, it just depends on the induvidual.
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Permalink Reply by flash_fire007 on
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I agree with everyone, They can't legally do that unless it is/was in the bylaws initially. I know several dept's here in Texas one that says they can't work off duty jobs they have to carry a pager/radio off duty and respond to calls as requested on a call to call basis, plus on their off duty days they only allow 1 person to leave town at a time, And this place is hours from anywhere... But if you were off that day and you want to go to the nearest Big City well you have to call the Chief and get his permission and permission from that Captain on shift, if they agree you can leave town, otherwise you are not allowed to leave town for any reason... guess what they have a HIGH turnover rate...!!! And then the other town well you cannot work p/t or a side job from them because they do out of town EMS transfers and so when a transfer comes in they call the off duty guys to come in and take it, but they give you a choice take the transfer OR stay at the station while an on duty guy goes on the road trip usually 2 hrs one way...And the funny thing is they are a straight BLS Service??? They have to take a Nurse with them if it is ALS...
Here where I work in Plainview, TX we can work off duty jobs our problem is we have a residency requirement which states we must live no more than 30 minutes from the station and they actually drive it out at legal speed limits and red lights and etc... to see if you are in compliance...If not you must move!!! Or lose your job!!!
Well Good Luck to you guys and hope it works best for everyone's interest...
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Permalink Reply by gregg robert on
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are you freakin kidding me! fire fighters dont make much cash as it is. are they trying to force em to go to the other job instead of the fire service. why cant they leave things alone
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Permalink Reply by Chris on
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What firefighters do on their own time is not the business of the employer. My opinion is that they should have no right to tell them what they can or can't do on their own time.
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Permalink Reply by fyrtamer on
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You are kidding me, right??? I used to live just outside Woonsocket, and I know it is a pretty backwards place, but this is just goofy!!! The city can't manage it's finances, so they are laying off, with the expectation of forced overtime for the guys not laid off. Where shall we begin in calling this Bass-Akward thinking!!!! Younger guys on straight time tend to not make anywhere near as much as a senior guy working overtime, so layoffs are STUPID!
Forced overtime is so much more stressful and likely to get someone hurt than a guy coming in from a 'day off' job. Most of them only do that side job cuz it helps bills get paid, and doesn't beat the guys up like the fire job can, so the part time stuff is actually probably relaxing for them. Once again, the whole issue is STUPID!!! Hey, overtime most likely pays better than the side job, so they would be cutting back the side hours anyway, cuz the OT will help pay he bills. Such a no brainer!
No engines on medic runs...hmmmmm... can you say lots of work comp and more overtime for injured medics' backs?
Man, I am glad I moved away from there.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Schwaben on
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Comeing from a volunteers point of veiw. If we didn't do our second jobs you could figure out what might happen. This seems like discrimination. If that is what it takes to feed your family would you do it? I think that it is a right of freedom to do what you want on your time off. If this means takeing a second job to make ends meet than I say do it. Although the public may see it differently, when they are the ones paying for your service . Maybe they need to step back and look at this issue from your point of veiw, and possibly you from theirs. Would you want 100 percent from the men and women saveing your lives and property? I think you would. So i guess what I'm saying is, don't overdo it and as long as your off time doesn't get in the way of your on time , GITTR DONE!!!!
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Permalink Reply by Josh Sullivan on
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True very true, also coming from a volunteer ff view, but wat is getting over looked from wat i can tell, is it coming back on the city with time. In this day and time every line of work is money crunching, tighning loose ends to stretch out the $. I work in the oil fields in Texas, But with everybody crunching the $ its hurting all of us. Same or lower pay, not as many hours, resulting in smaller pay checks. But to keep your family decent for your living or bills, just about everybody is looking for side or pt jobs.
With just running medics to rescue scenes or wrecks, it will get bad. Not only for the medics backs and strain, but with the engine on scene for support, it also runs a fine line with saftey. Normally the engine is parked back from the scene 60 ft or so, help provide that small saftey barier on the interstates, or major roadways. So if that one car cant or doesnt stop, it does not plow right into the wreck scene that way everybody has a chance to go home at the end.
The city can and it might do no second jobs for ff. Then again if they look at big picture of pay and ff lifes, they might not. Cause most people no matter wat type of job they have, if they cant provide for their families at this job, i would be looking for another. So they might loose a lot of ff.
With me my family comes first with any job. If the job is going to put a strain on my family is it really worth it. With being a volunteer fire fighter, we gotta look at all angles of the situation and make do with what you can. We make alot of fires and at the same time we miss alot of fires, cause again family first. If i miss work a day or two the my checks are smaller than what i need to stay a float.
I suggest the city do a meeting with the fire figfhters and come to an agreement on their predicument.
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Permalink Reply by FIRE BEAR on
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im from woonsocket and its bad there from what my older bro tells me the city is juat going plain nuts over this all they are saying is to hell with the city bring back all the fire fighters so they dont have to pay the over time and let them keep there 2nd job its not like woon pays there fireifghters a hell of alot of money
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Permalink Reply by John on
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Not sure I would like that, Our guys here have other part time jobs with other departments in the area and something like that rule would hurt alot of the depts in my area.
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Permalink Reply by jim preston on
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This is all just sickening! All I can
say is I'm praying for all my career Brothers and Sisters.
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Permalink Reply by grant morse on
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hmmm i guess the simple answer would be to pay them enough to live off so they wouldn't need a second job
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