Giannini: Negotiations are a Matter of Fairness and Trust

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Joanne Giannini, GoLocalProv MINDSETTER™

What would you do if you were working a job 42 hours a week and were suddenly told by your boss that you were suppose to now work 56 hours a week for the same pay? Let's add on to the fact that it's a job where you work under pressure and life threatening situations.

Let's also add that no matter how much training you get, it can never prepare you for the circumstances you can encounter daily. You may kiss your spouse and kids goodbye in the morning and not know if you will see them again at night, because your day could have two very different scenarios.

The Scenarios

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The first scenario is one that the public believes is dominant. It exists of a job were your duties consist of hanging around your place of employment, making pizza and sleeping on a cart.

Sounds like a dream job, right?

The second scenario consists of one where you are hanging around your station, maybe cooking, maybe resting and the fire alarm goes off. Bam!! You jump to your feet, get dressed in your uniform gear and race to a raging fire. This is a fire that is burning out of control in a three family house, where there are three families at risk of loosing their lives. Upon arrival you spot a child leaning out of a window getting ready to jump. You and your fellow workers do not hesitate to enter the burning three tenement to rescue the child and any other victims of the fire. It is not an easy task, because the fire is blazing, the black smoke is unbearable and the structure looks unsafe to enter. You enter the apartment building only to hear faint cries of help and screaming cries of fear coming from all directions. You and your fellow workers proceed to follow the voices and rescue whoever is in the house without thinking twice about your own safety. You proceed to the second floor apartment where a three year old child is trying to climb out the window. The smoke is so black and thick you can hardly see him but reach him and carry him down an obstacle course of fire, falling debris and intense black smoke outside the building to safety.

The child is screaming for his mother. Your fellow workers break down a bedroom door and find the mother unconscious on the floor and carry her to safety. The father, who was working at the time has arrived and tries to desperately enter the building to save his family. You have to protect him from entering the burning apartment and tell him that you will save his family. This is a reality scenario that can happen any given day: because you are living the life of a firefighter.

The firefighter emergency crews who respond during car accidents, heart attacks, home injuries, home fires, nursing home fires, business fires, gas explosions, train wrecks and so many other life threatening situations do not have a dream job.

These scenarios or situations I mentioned are not often thought about when you hear about the firefighters. Instead, we hear instances of overtime abuse and pension abuse that lead the public to mistrust our firefighters.

Sure, there are abuses in all vocations in life, but the rank and file firefighters are the first responders to many tragedies. Many firefighters are hard working public safety personnel who do their jobs on a daily basis without fanfare or accolades. How many of us would respond to that overdose victim, or run in that burning building, or give CPR to a suicide victim to try to revive him?

The Providence Firefighters

The Providence firefighters are beside themselves. They were given the news overnight that their hours would be switched from 42 hours to 56 hours with no additional pay. These so called "platoon changes" were not discussed with the Firefighter union, which is currently under a three year contract which was negotiated under Mayor Tavares's administration.

Paul Doughty, President of Local firefighter union 799, has stated that the firefighters have made $6 million dollars in concessions in order to negotiate their present contract. Presently, Doughty said, "The fire department is down about 80 firefighters or 20% of their manpower." There are suppose to be approximately 500 firefighters. This lack of fire personnel has caused increased overtime costs which Doughty blames strictly on the shortage of manpower.

Doughty also states that most firefighters only average 6 sick days a year, according to information given to him by the Providence fire chief. He says if the 80 vacancies were filled, it would cut down on overtime and cost the city less money. He also claims it would take about 9 months to fill the 80 vacancies but it would save the city money in overtime to increase the manpower and also help as a safety factor.

These changes proposed by Mayor Jorge Elorza will take place on June 30, 2015. The Firefighter Union is asking that the Mayor abide by the contract that was negotiated in good faith with the previous administration. They are willing to negotiate changes and make concessions but want to do so after their contract is fulfilled. Their present contract, Doughty said, already had concessions made in it in order to reach the agreement.

North Kingstown Fire Department

This situation has been compared to the North Kingstown fire department which also changed their platoon system. But it is a different situation because North Kingstown did not have a contract and Providence firefighters have two more years left on their existing contract.

The question in this situation is how can we compare North Kingstown, which is predominately one family owner occupied homes and businesses, with Providence? Providence is a city loaded with residential properties anywhere from a single residence to a six family tenement house. There are different neighborhoods, different diverse communities and language barriers that North Kingstown cannot compare with. I see no comparison in these two communities and I wonder why anyone would.

Doughty also said the Legislature introduced a bill in the House and Senate trying to clarify the situation by defining the law to state that overtime be paid after 42 hours of working. He said he was promised a vote but instead the bill has been held for further study.

Outcome for Firefighters Coming

The next few weeks will determine an outcome for the Providence firefighters. Regardless of the outcome, one thing remains clear: Mayors, elected officials and administration officials cannot continue bargaining contracts they cannot afford or cannot fulfill. They cannot keep breaking their word to the parties who trusted them and negotiated in good faith. The whole issue of negotiation and contracts is on the line here. This is a labor issue that needs to be resolved.

Something needs to be done to ensure Mayors and Council members do not agree to contracts irresponsibly, nor should they get concessions from workers to negotiate a contract and then change it midstream. Are the firefighters allowed legally to stop the concessions they made during the bargaining agreement because of a bad economy? Of course not.

It's a matter of fairness and trust, one that needs to be resolved or the contract negotiation process means nothing for the workers of this state. And that truly is a loss for all of us.

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Joanne Giannini served as a RI State Representative from Providence from 1994 to 2010. She has previously written commentaries for the Providence Journal and the Federal Hill Gazette. During her tenure in the General Assembly, she made appearances on CNN, Primetime News, and American Morning regarding legislation she filed in Rhode Island.

Giannini: Negotiations are a Matter of Fairness and Trust

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