Chief Hazel Steering Clear Of Union's Battle With Town
Fire Chief finds himself caught between his boss and his employees.
As Firefighters Local 1647 continues its contract negotiations with the Board of Selectmen and Town Manager, there is probably no one more anxious for things to be settled than Fire Chief Mike Hazel.
Hazel finds himself squarely in the middle of a situation that has grown contentious (according to one source, acrimonious) and surprisingly public in recent weeks.
On one side are Hazel's staff, who he commands and, many times, works alongside with lives at stake. On the other side are the people the chief answers to and who set his budget.
Predictably, the chief is declining to take sides or even talk about the contract battle.
"As I understand it, the negotiations are still ongoing. I think it would be inappropriate for me to comment," said Hazel.
At the middle of the contract dispute is Article 23 of the existing contract that calls for specific minimum staffing requirements at each of the town's three stations and calls for the temporary closure of either the North or South "sub stations" if those staffing requirements cannot be met.
As a matter of public safety strategy, both Chief Hazel and former Chief Richard Mackey chose South Station as the sub station to close.
In an open letter to residents published on Patch, Town Manager and the Board of Selectmen explained that town negotiators are looking to remove Article 23 from the contract to give the Fire Chief latitude to staff the stations as he believes is needed and appropriate. Town officials believe that type of fiscal/staffing flexibility will go a long way toward all three stations remaining open.
Local 1647 has taken the position that removing Article 23 is a non-starter. In a blog post on Tewksbury Patch, Local 1647 called for $350,000 to be restored to the Fire Department overtime budget to maintain staffing at all three stations year-round.
The union suggested that if the town does not alter its position, residents should do the same thing at the upcoming Annual Town Meeting that they did at the 2012 Town Meeting -- take action to reduce the amount of money being put into the stabilization fund with the goal of having that money allocated to the Fire Department overtime budget.
In their open letter, Montuori and the selectmen called that a band-aid approach that didn't deal with the root issue.
mike t
1:23 pm on Thursday, March 21, 2013
How about each fire fighter works a normal 8 hour shift and put in a normal 40 hour work week like everyone else. No more two 24 hour shifts with paid sleep time and overtime. When your on the clock your working, not sleeping!. If the police can do it so can the Firefighters. I don't mind paying for someone to work overtime but I want them working for it, not sleeping so they can be fully rested for their side jobs as plumber's, electricians and carpenter's
Wake up Tewksbury. It's time we tightend our belts and make sure our money is being spent for actual services.
Dave
1:44 pm on Thursday, March 21, 2013
Sage Advice! Start privatizing towns services, no more dealing with unions.
Jonathan Ciampa
2:15 pm on Thursday, March 21, 2013
I asked this in the comments of the TM/Selectman article but have not seen a response.
Are we the only town in this area (or even in Massachusetts) that has a condition like Article 23 in the contract?
Is it the position of the Firefighter's Union that the only true solution to the South St. Station is overtime? Have the FF's put forth any other contract proposals which satisfy the 100% staffing / station open scenario without overtime? If we agree to use the stabilization fund this year, what do we do next year? What do we do in ten years when the Stabilization fund is empty?
We need a solution that works for FY2014 and beyond and dipping into the stabilization fund is a band-aid which will become impossible to re-apply in the future. I see suggestions from the TM, the BoS, and from the citizens and taxpayers. I have not seen any suggestion from the FF's other than overtime. Everybody wants the station open but we have to find another way.
TEE
3:45 pm on Thursday, March 21, 2013
Jonathan,
Article 23 "Town wide Safety" calls for minimum staffing requirements at each station, (a minimum of 12), 1 Captain, 3 Lieutenants, 6 FF, and 2 FF/EMT. TFD is staffed by 48 full time sworn FFs 4 shifts of the minimum 12 required to provide coverage for the entire town.
As far as othe departments having this in their contract is hard to say different departments may staff a Ladder Truck or Rescue to complement their response capabilities and go to a minimum number when someone is out taking one of those vehicles out of service. Lowell will close a station when they fall below minimum staffing for a station, and the remaining FFs from that station will be reassigned to another station in the city and be paid a stipend for not working in their assigned station or position.
Because of Collective Bargaining laws it can not be said what the FF uninon has proposed to the Town. But in other articles it was stated that if OT is the problem hire more FFs, but the town knows this will cost more in the long run.
It has been said numerous times before TFD is running at minimum staffing to provide town wide coverage, the FD only has enough people to staff 2 Engines, 1 Ambulance, 1 Engine/Ambulance, and Shift Commander. anything less than that someone has to be hired on OT to fill the position, if not that Engine,Ambulance of Command vehicle is out of service.
We keep going around about the Stabilization fund, money can be replaced a life can't.
Steevo
3:21 pm on Thursday, March 21, 2013
It's getting disgusting. Unions have lost their original intent. You have self-righteous individuals who believe they're superior, wanting others to sacrifice and bear hardship so they can have more because they're more special.
Dave
8:22 pm on Thursday, March 21, 2013
Steevo, when this is over and a decision is reached on the future of the fire dept in this town, the firefighters will rest easy knowing we tried to get the best, most capable fire department for the residents. We are trying to presereve the level of service and fighting on behalf of all of the residents whether some choose to believe it or not. Whatever may happen we will all have to live with it in the end. If the fire department becomes smaller, less capable, people better not complain when something does happen. Please do not accuse me of scare tactics, any reasonable person understands what I mean.
Richard Menard
8:37 pm on Thursday, March 21, 2013
I have been very reserved on this issue as I look forward to including it in my speech on Tuesday night at the TCC. It seems that most people who have posted on this blog are already set in their mind that this issue is about FF's wanting more money. It simply isn't the case. As the only candidate that has been endorsed by the TFD local, I have been outspoken on this issue and I re-iterate that I will fight for whatever is the most ECONOMICAL solution to staffing. There are grants out there to help satifsy the National Fire Protection Agency guidline on staffing. The Federal SAFER grant was established for just this reason and even goes so far as to offer waivers for towns strugging to meet their end of the financial portion of this program. I trust the Chief and these are the numbers he has budgeted for, the town Manager and Board chose to not give him the money he needs to do the job to his standards. I work for a department that has a "floater" who covers each station to control some of the costs. If the Chief has calculated the numbers and finds hiring back firefighters for coverage is the best way to go, then so be it, he has the books and did the math. Regarding privitaztion, if I ran the department I would absolutely run private ambulances, staffing the ladder truck that we are about replace with those crew members. This would keep our Firefighters in town to fight fires, not transport patients to the hospital. We can't afford to lose that revenue though.
JHH
12:44 am on Friday, March 22, 2013
First of all it is beyond insulting to think these guys work a cushy job. They average 42 hrs/wk with this schedule. If it were such an easy job everyone woyld want it. They should be allowed to sleep when possible. I don't want exhausted guys trying to put out fires, drive huge trucks, transport patients, etc while in a micro sleep. Doctors are allowed to sleep during shifts. Military are allowed to sleep while deployed. Why should ffs not sleep?
As for Chief Hazel. He leaves a lot to be desired as far as leadership and everything else that goes w/ his title. I'll just leave it at that...
Using a private ambulance co would NOT solve the problem of having enough guys to man ea station. It would put TFD in an even more financial hole than it's in now. That service is vital to the dept. And I know for a fact you won't get EMTs who care as much. These guys have an emotional investment to the community.
This is NOT about greedy, lazy union guys looking to bilk the town. They truly want what's best for Twks. It's about keeping the growing town safe now & in the future. They have given up a lot in previous negotiations w/ intent on not straining town finances. They are proud of their town & its fire dept. Stop assuming this is about greed. No doubt when your/loved one's life is endangered there's no amt you'd pay to save them.
John
2:43 pm on Sunday, March 24, 2013
Many points to consider here, JHH. Who says everyone doesn't want the job, JHH?
The ff starts work at 7 am inspecting equipment, cleaning, answering calls, training, lunch, repeat above, supper, repeat above. Now 3 am, ff has had no sleep and you now have your scenario of exhausted guys and gals trying to put out fires, driving huge trucks and transporting patients. 24 hour shifts are not safe in the firefighting business, especially if one or two of those ffs are on an overtime shift.
"Doctors are allowed to sleep during shifts." How's the national health care system working these days? You want to compare a deployed military unit to a small town fire department. Can you say apples to oranges? And besides, if any of the deployed military is getting a couple of hours of shut eye, I think there just might be some armed sentries around protecting the troops.
"Why should FFs not sleep?" In this day and age, paying any government employee to sleep is an outrage. Sleeping in the firehouse is a tradition that goes back several hundred years. Money issue aside here. Being woken up at 3:00 in the morning from sleep by the alarm gong going off is a severe detriment to the health of the ffs. That sudden, repetitive adrenaline rush is a major contributing factor to the high incidence of heart problems in ffs.
A private ambulance would give the dept. 2 extra ffs per shift, more than enough to keep all stations open.
Finally, EMTs have an emotional investment in their patients.
P A
7:34 pm on Saturday, March 23, 2013
Why don't we try for a volunteer FF dept? Maybe 10 will show up. Or maybe when no one is interested, then we will appreciate how difficult it is to pay one to do this job. I believe if you are a FF and work one event annually, & see what these men are exposed to, then they are underpaid. I am not discussing O/T, I am saying if you think FF is so terrific & high paying you would be Chief, Lt, Capt. Or FF. I am truly grateful to these men, I'D rather pay them triple than the outrageous w/s rates. They're always there! , God Bless and Thanks men,Padoyle