KPTM FOX 42: Omaha News, Sports and Weather; Nebraska News, Sports; kptm.com | Minimum Staffing Proposal Draws Heat in City Council
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OMAHA (KPTM) -- A showdown in the Omaha City Council Chambers between one of its members and leaders of the fire department. It came Tuesday during a public hearing on an ordinance that would eliminate minimum staffing requirements within the police and fire departments.
Councilman Ben Gray says he wants to make union contract negotiations more fair, but firefighter after firefighter took the podium, concerned the change would compromise the safety of firefighters and the public.
It wasn't supposed to be about numbers, but discussion of a proposed city council ordinance quickly went there and turned heated. "This ordinance is about numbers," said Omaha Fire Chief Mike McDonnell. "It's about the firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice for the citizens of Omaha."
Gray wants to get rid of specific staffing rules in the fire and police departments. One provision requires four firefighters go out on every rig. The language is already written into union contracts, and some say also having it as part of a city ordinance gives firefighters an unfair advantage at the bargaining table. "This ordinance makes it totally unfair to our city negotiators and representatives and frankly, unfair to taxpayers. No department of city government funded by taxpayers should be off limits," said Dave Nabity.
Firefighters say staffing shouldn't be about dollars and cents when someone's life is at stake. Leaders call the requirements "insurance" the issue won't come up in negotiations. "The city negotiates wages and benefits and that's a good thing, a good thing for taxpayers. But to jeopardize my firefighters to give you an edge in negotiations is wrong," Assistant Fire Chief Joe Gibilisco told Gray.
Gray calls the requirements "leverage" and insists he's not interested in reducing the number of firefighters on a fire truck, just in taking a closer look at the department's bureaucracy. "At the end of the day, we may find that there are no savings in the fire department, but as a body, as an elected body, we have an obligation to, more than anything else, that we take care of the taxpayer," he said.
The minimum staffing requirements were put into the city charter in 2000 on a unanimous vote. They've been a part of the fire union contract since 1991. A vote on Gray's ordinance is scheduled for next week.
