HUNDREDS OF FIRE FIGHTERS RALLY TO CALL ON MAYOR CICILLINE TO KEEP PROMISES AND SHOW COMMITMENT TO PUBLIC SAFETY

IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger, Local 799 President Paul Doughty and fire fighters from across New England stand together at City Hall to demand long-awaited contract for Providence fire fighters

PROVIDENCE, RI – IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger, Providence Local 799 President Paul Doughty, IAFF 3rd District Vice President Michael Mullane, Rhode Island State Association of Fire Fighters President Frank Montanaro and over 350 fire fighters from across New England gathered at City Hall today to call on Mayor David Cicilline to keep his promise of a new contract and show a renewed commitment to adequate public safety for the people of Providence.

Providence fire fighters have been without a contract since June 30, 2001, despite promises from Providence Mayor David Cicilline to work with Local 799 to negotiate a fair agreement within 30 days of his election.

“The fact is that the Providence fire fighters have proposed a contract that would save the taxpayers of this city thousands of dollars each year,” Schaitberger said to Local 799 members. “When you took your oath to serve in this job that requires physical sacrifice, you said you would not turn your backs on the people of Providence. And you have kept that promise. And now it’s time for this Mayor to keep the city’s promise to you.”

The City is also seeking to cut fire fighters from the already under-staffed Providence Fire Department, which would further risk fire fighter and public safety. Currently, the PFD runs only three fire fighters per truck on about half its calls, which doesn’t meet national staffing standards issued by the National Fire Protection Association.

“The cuts in the number of fire fighters the city is attempting would cause the PFD to fall even further behind the rest of the country, expose minority neighborhoods to additional risk, while moving fully staffed companies to affluent neighborhoods,” remarked Schaitberger.

Providence makes 26,000 EMS runs out of 36,000 total calls per year. One out of every 10 runs is responded to by mutual aid rescues, with waits of up to 30 minutes for patients in critical, life-threatening health emergencies. The rescues and engines in Providence are some of the busiest in the country, with five contractual rescues all averaging 5,000 runs per year.

“Balancing the budget on the backs of public safety is a dangerous game of Russian roulette,” noted Schaitberger. “There is no management rhetoric that can explain away an injury to a fire fighter or the death of a child because there were not enough fire fighters on the scene.”

The International Association of Fire Fighters, headquartered in Washington, DC, represents more than 267,000 full-time professional fire fighters and paramedics who protect 80 percent of the nation’s population. More than 2,900 affiliates protect nearly 6,000 communities in Canada and in every state in the U.S. More information is available at www.iaff.org .

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