Difficult Economic Times Hit the NYFD

Fire Dept. to Reduce Staffing at 49 Engine Companies

By AL BAKER

With more than 500 city firefighters now out of work for health reasons, the Fire Department is moving to reduce staffing at 49 engine companies in the five boroughs, city officials said Tuesday.

Officials say the change, set to take effect at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, was prompted by a provision in the labor contract that allows the city to institute staffing reductions when the overall percentage of firefighters on medical leave reaches a certain percentage. In doing so, the city can avoid paying overtime to firefighters to keep engine companies at mandated staffing levels.

The move immediately ignited a new round of bitterness over an issue that has long been at the heart of sparring between the department and the Uniformed Firefighters Association, the union that represents 8,800 rank-and-file firefighters.

At issue are 49 engine companies that are currently staffed with five firefighters, but will be cut to four on Wednesday because the percentage of firefighters out on medical leave hit 7.5 percent. Those affected include 15 in the Bronx; 14 in Brooklyn; 12 in Manhattan; 7 in Queens; and one on Staten Island.

Of the other engine companies in the city, 134 are already staffed with four firefighters. Eleven other companies are always staffed with five firefighters, regardless of the medical leave numbers, because those engines are relied on to provide backup to engines on a day-to-day basis where firefighters call in sick.

Ladder companies, by contrast, are staffed with five firefighters at all times, officials said.

“Medical leave rates have been rising for several months, and we repeatedly warned the U.F.A. this was a problem that could again result in the staffing reduction as outlined in their contract with the city,” Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta said in a statement. “Increased medical leave is costing us more in overtime, and we’re going to do everything we can to be fiscally prudent in these difficult economic times.”

The union contended that setting a minimum staffing level at five firefighters was essential for the health and safety of firefighters; the union also suggested that the prevalence of swine flu had driven the sick rate higher than normal.

Stephen J. Cassidy, the president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, held a news conference Tuesday afternoon to “publicly denounce” the city’s decision to make the manpower reductions, a union spokesman said.