Approval of mayor or chief needed for moonlighting in Woonsocket. City officials say it is necessary after layoffs. Union calls it retaliation.
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Woonsocket Fire Department Headquarters Station from department website.
If you are a firefighter in Woonsocket, Rhode Island who wants to work on your day off you will soon have to seek approval from a higher authority. City officials say moonlighting will be allowed only with the permission of the mayor or fire chief. This plan was threatened back in March and it is now scheduled to become a reality a week from tomorrow.
The city says it is a necessity. The union believes it’s a contract violation and possibly a violation of their member’s constitutional rights.
Here are excerpts from an article by John Hill at projo.com:
Christopher Lambert, one of the lawyers who handles labor relations for the city, said the order was needed to make sure that in the wake of Fire Department layoffs earlier this year, the firefighters on duty would be ready and able to do their jobs.
“It’s been a concern for some time,” Lambert said.
Steven Reilly, president of Local 732 of the International Association of Firefighters, scoffed at Lambert’s claim that the order was prompted by a concern for public safety. He called it revenge.
“This is retaliation because we don’t have a contract,” Reilly said.
The nature of the firefighters’ schedule makes it possible for many to hold second jobs. They alternate two days of 14-hour night shifts with two days of 10-hour day shifts and then four days off.
The city and the fire union have been in a standoff for months over what the city says are needed contract concessions. Eleven firefighters were laid off in March to help close a city deficit. But Reilly said by June 30 the city will wind up paying about $88,000 more in overtime than it would have paid had the laid-off firefighters stayed on the payroll.
