FDNY Cuts Staffing Until Medical Leave Rate Decreases

FDNY brass notified firefighters that staffing will be cut on select companies as the number of members on medical leave is on the rise.

The New York Daily News reports that the fifth firefighter position will not be staffed on 10 engine companies until the medical leave rate drops. That means the apparatus will roll out the door with three firefighters, a driver and an officer. 

A memo from the Uniformed Firefighters’ Association (UFA) stated: “The Fire Department has informed the UFA this morning that the absence rate for the last 365 days has topped 7.5%, and as of Dec. 1, it at 7.53%,” the UFA memo said.

In the most recent contract, the city agreed to restore the extra position as long as the absentee rate stayed below 7.5 percent annually.

The rate includes firefighters who are recovering from on-duty injuries.

If the medical leave rate drops, the extra position could be restored next month.

"While we understand that the contract the UFA signed with the city indicates the loss of the fifth man would occur in the event this threshold was crossed, as we enter cold weather and holiday season, the fifth man on engines becomes even more critical and I hope that the FDNY remains flexible to reinstating this individual when conditions demand so," UFA president Gerard Fitzgerald told the newspaper.