East Cleveland firefighters claimed their first victory in their fight to keep part-time firefighters out, and pull full-time firefighters in.
Two judges have made rulings in favor of the firefighters, but their battle with the city is far from over, reported NewsChannel5's Carolina Leid.
Chief Kenneth Adams has been ordered to step down as East Cleveland's fire chief after Judge Jeffrey Hastings ruled on Wednesday that Adams didn't go through the hiring process correctly.
Adams is still at work and in uniform, but is now wearing the hat of director, given to him by Mayor Eric Brewer.
In a second ruling, Judge Jose Villanueva put the mayor's part-time firefighter staffing plans on hold until the dispute with his firefighters is resolved.
Brewer and Adams said hiring part-time firefighters would save the city $600,000 a year by cutting down on overtime.
"What it's going to cost is for us to find some other ways to save the money we were going to save by using the supplemental firefighters," said Adams.
Brewer said in a letter, "Judges Villanueva and Hastings have decided that the residents of East Cleveland must continue to pay a few greedy firefighters $25,000 to $45,000 in overtime."
He also said, "Judge Hastings over-extended his authority by ignoring East Cleveland's charter," and "Judge Villanueva acted like a pick pocket when he caved in to the firefighters' union.
He finished his letter by saying, "It's an early Christmas gift" for the union.
Attorney Susannah Muskovitz represents Local 500, and said East Cleveland firefighters make $15,000 less on average than other firefighters in Cuyahoga County, and they also deal with high-run volume and low staffing.
"To call them greedy is just irresponsible and does a disservice to the firefighters and the community," said Muskovitz.
The city and its firefighters will continue negotiating, but this time with an appointed arbitrator.
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