|
|
 |
 |
by HEIDI J. SHRAGER
With a hint of possible labor disruptions during the GOP Convention, firefighters rallied in front of City Hall yesterday to declare an impasse in their contract negotiations with the Bloomberg administration, setting in motion a process that could lead to binding arbitration.
"We are here today to make clear that we won't accept the mayor's insulting offer to New York's Bravest," said Stephen J. Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association (UFA). "We're asking for what's rightfully ours."
Asked if firefighters will stage strikes or sickouts during the Republican Convention beginning Aug. 30 at Madison Square Garden, Cassidy said nothing is being ruled out: "The level of frustration is so high, I can't account for what might happen."
Ed Skyler, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's press secretary, called Cassidy irresponsible for announcing he couldn't predict how frustrated firefighters might act in the coming weeks.
On the steps behind Cassidy during the rally stood a throng of off-duty firefighters, many wearing bright yellow T-shirts that read, "Firefighters for fair pay," and some waving signs with slogans such as, "We can't afford to live in the city we protect."
A few dozen off-duty cops -- city police officers recently declared their own contract impasse -- showed up in solidarity, wearing blue T-shirts.
FOLLOWS DEAL FRAMEWORK
Mayoral spokesman Jordan Barowitz said the latest city offer is a $1,000-cash bonus, a three percent raise retroactive to the FDNY contract expiration date of May 31, 2002, and a raise of up to five percent, based on productivity enhancements such as changes in work schedules.
The offer follows the framework of the June deal between the city and its largest union, District Council 37.
But Cassidy argues his union deserves more than DC 37's 121,000 members. "Mike Bloomberg says we are no different from people who push paper," Cassidy told his assembled firefighters. "That's a joke."
Donald J. Ruland, the UFA's Staten Island trustee, agreed. "We have the highest death rate of any uniformed worker," he told the Advance. "The mayor does not want to take danger into account when calculating what we're worth."
Firefighters refused to acknowledge the productivity portion of the proposed raise, arguing that what the Bloomberg administration calls "productivity" actually means "givebacks."
"We're not giving anything back!" yelled Cassidy at the rally. "It's astounding that Mayor Bloomberg is saying four percent should be acceptable to the heroes of 9/11."
The union is demanding that its members be paid more in line with firefighters in surrounding municipalities, whose base salaries are significantly higher, it says.
"The average pay for a New York City firefighter is $1,000 over two weeks," said Ruland. "You can't feed your family."
Speaking ominously, he added, "One of the things the mayor does not realize is, he's declining a group of people who dug New York out 24 hours a day, nonstop, for months. This protest is nothing for us. We're going to get stronger. We'll send a loud and clear message that police and firefighters are homeland security in New York City."
'BILLIONAIRE BLOOMBERG'
In the past two weeks, firefighters have been demonstrating at the mayor's appearances throughout the city, and at Madison Square Garden. The demonstrators have followed Bloomberg to events, taunting him and holding signs with the words "Billionaire Bloomberg."
After the rally, Skyler told reporters the city cannot afford to offer more.
"The mayor is not going to be intimidated into making a decision just to make his life easier," he said. "We're going to make a deal that's right for the city, and that's fair to taxpayers."
Skyler said the mayor's staff has also been a target of firefighters' intimidation tactics.
As if on cue, his comments were drowned out by a swarm of firefighters enclosing him in a circle and chanting, "Skyler got a raise!"
Barowitz later said he and Skyler were among the DC 37 workers who accepted the June deal -- the same one firefighters turned down.
The state Public Employment Relations Board received the UFA's impasse declaration on Monday, according to the board's executive director, James R. Edgar.
If the city agrees to an impasse, the next step is for each side to agree on a mediator. If mediation does not work, negotiations will be turned over to a binding arbitration panel.
 |
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
