Arbitrator Rules for FFs in NY Pay Dispute

Aug. 24 -- WATERTOWN, NY -- An arbitrator has ruled that city firefighters are entitled to out-of-title pay for shifts worked in which they took on the role of the department’s demoted captains.

Daniel Daugherty, president of the Watertown Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 191, said arbitrator Richard Curreri ruled that the city will have to compensate firefighters who responded to calls while assuming the responsibilities of captains.

In 2015, the city demoted eight fire department captains, leaving firefighters to cover those responsibilities.

“This is a big win for the union,” Mr. Daugherty said. “For this proves the city was wrong about demoting the captains.”

The out-of-title pay on heavy rescue and other rigs covers any calls responded to from April 1, 2017 until now, according to the ruling.

The amount that the city will have to pay could be as much as $100,000, Mr. Daugherty said. Union officials will be going over fire call logs to determine how much the city will have to pay. The union has sixty days to do that.

Terry M. O’Neil, the Long Island lawyer representing the city, said he will have to go over the city’s options to respond to the ruling.

“Obviously we disagree with the award,” Mr. O’Neil said.

He plans to discuss the ruling with city council members when they meet on Sept. 4.

As the result of the demotions the city changed its standard operating procedures, putting firefighters in the right-hand seat of fire-fighting vehicles on calls and making decisions on scenes that fire captains would have made.

The city and the firefighters’ union have been embroiled in a more than four-year contract dispute. The rift became more bitter after the city demoted the eight captains.

The 68-member union has been without a contract since July 2014. The main sticking point remains the “minimum manning” stipulation that requires 15 firefighters are on duty at all times. On Oct. 17 the two sides will give oral arguments in state appellate division fourth department court in Rochester about a lower court’s decision regarding minimum manning.

Mr. O’Neil is an associate with Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC. Nathaniel G. Lambright of the Syracuse law firm Blitman & King, LLP represents the union.

___ (c)2018 Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.) Visit Watertown Daily Times (Watertown, N.Y.) at www.watertowndailytimes.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.