Washington Post article with union & DC Council reaction
UPDATE -
D.C.'s fire chief wants to reduce the size of his department by more than 20 percent and make changes to the schedules firefighters now work.
Chief Kenneth Ellerbe told Mayor Vincent Gray and the D.C. Council Wednesday he wants to reduce the number of full-time employees by 475, shrinking the department to about 1,625 employees. Ellerbe also wants to move from 24-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts, more than doubling the number of days firefighters work each month.
"It's an absurd idea," says Ed Smith, president of the D.C. firefighters union. Smith says he doesn't believe Ellerbe's assertion that the moves will save taxpayers $36 million.
"I'd like to see the data on that," Smith tells WTOP.
Ellerbe says the shift change would encourage firefighters to live closer to the District.
"Forty-one percent of our members live between 30 and 100 miles away," Ellerbe told elected officials at their monthly breakfast meeting. "That creates a homeland security challenge if we have to recall our entire workforce right away for an emergency."
Ellerbe says some members of the department live as far away as Delaware, North Carolina and South Carolina. Gray agreed that's an issue of public safety.
"It's very much of a concern," Gray said after the briefing. "If there is a catastrophic event people will be challenged to get back into the city."
Gray said reducing the size of the department and what impact the move would have on public safety also is a major concern.
"We're not going to sacrifice, under any circumstances, public safety," Gray said.
D.C. firefighters currently work a 24-hour shift, then have three days off. Under Ellerbe's proposal, firefighters would work three 12-hour day shifts, then have 12 hours off before returning to work three 12-hour night shifts. They would then have three days off.
Firefighters in the District have not had a raise since 2006, and their union contract expired in 2007. Union officials expect to begin negotiations for the new contract soon, but say they'll reject the proposed shift changes.
Only 25 percent of D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services employees currently live in the District.
From the Washington Examiner's Liz Farmer:
D.C. Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe told city leaders on Wednesday that he wants to cut the number of city firefighters by nearly 30 percent in order to save the city potentially $32 million over the years.
Ellerbe said his goal is to reduce the firefighters from 2,200 to 1,600 total, but said there was no hard deadline yet to reach that staffing level. He said he hoped to achieve that throught the department's attrition rate, which he said he did not have immediately available.
WTOP Radio reporter Mark Segraves (@SegravesWTOP) was at a monthly DC City Council breakfast this morning attended by Mayor Vincent Gray and some department heads. Among them is DC Fire & EMS Department Chief Kenneth Ellerbe who has been hinting about moving the department away from 24-hour shifts for some time. Segraves' Tweets from the meeting (below) indicate Ellerbe is now doing more than hinting about this significant change in the structure of the department. Read them from bottom to top:
Also on STATter911 …
- DC Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe now gets his say. His views on going to 12-hour shifts for firefighters. Plus the chief is getting a lot of heat. Read the comment cards. – January 13, 2012
- Washington Post supports DC Fire & EMS Department shift change. Editorial board calls it ‘A shift for the better’. – December 26, 2011
- DC hearing shows different views on how to handle peak EMS demand & medic shortage. Chief Ellerbe has second thoughts after communications director blocks press. – May 18, 2013
- IAFF Local 36 rebuttal to Washington Post: ‘A shift toward sleep deprived firefighters.’ – December 30, 2011
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Whassa ya think?
Jealousy is a stinky cologne my friend.
Whassa ya think?
Come on down and volunteer your service to one of the many ambos, that would be a good starting point for you. Take your pick- A03, A06, and A10. I'm sure any of those guys would love to have you ride with them for 24 hours to help out. But, just a warning, you will probably have at least 2 PT piss or throw up all over the back of your ambo and the rest of your runs you will be talked down to by the public because they see how the fire chief treats us so they think its ok. Also, it's the first of the month which means you will be running alot of people on PCP that love to try to fight and spit on everyone. But its a job that I do because thats what it is- It's a job. I work hard to provide a service to the city and the only thing I ask for in return is a paycheck and a tour that I'm told I'm acually doing my job right. Anthing other than that is just extra.
In response to comments by Whadda ya think? says. First of all Grow up and speak with some Adult level of Maturity and Facts. (1) Volunteers who are Career in the DCFD d0onot keep anyone from being Hired. (2) So a well Trained DCFD Firefighter chooses to Volunteer in any surrounding Jurisdiction is sharing His/Her Training,Experience,Knowledge to help better the Community where they live. Those words by Whadda ya think? says are nothing more than a unwarranted totally uncalled for juvenile mentality against Volunteers. The individual who speaks and instills those words of Bias and predjudice obviously is one who worships and idolizes the IAFF. In the Economy today there are jurisdictions who maynot be as fortunate with Fiscal and ability to Hire Career Firefighters as the other large Urban/Metropolitan Jurisdictions. ie; DCFD our Nations Capitol Fire and EMS Dept. Also the jurisdictions who have Combination Systems do a Respectable job of Firefighting and EMS Service to their Citizens. There are Good well Trained Career Firefighters and EMS People, and also there are Good Well Trained Volunteer Firefighters and EMS Providers. Everyone should stop and take a minute to realize and understand one of those Providers be it Career and/or Volunteer just may pull one of you know it all thinking your superiority is the only thing you need. Whadda ya think? says your immature juvenile mentalitry is out of line. Climb out of your sand box, recess is over.
Thank You
TO ALL OF THOSE THAT WILL BE AFFECTED BY A SHIFT CHANGE: STICK TO THE FACTS AND LEAVE FEELINGS AND RHETORIC OUT OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The FEMS Administrator will be using FACTS as he further pushes this idea and WE(Local36) need to do the same. Also stop getting in arguments with folks on here who WANNA BE DCFD. Haters gonna hate!!!!! I'm done!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We have very divided department (along racial lines). Whether people want to admit that is neither here or there. Some venting in this forum and others present this front like we (dcfd employees) are all in this thing over 24/72 together. There are many who aren't Ellerbe backers of the shft change, but probably wouldn't mind it because it would get rid of some of the people on the job who come to work with so much negativity about the city, but don't mind collecting that paycheck bi-weekly. The majority of us employed dcfd can't vote in the city, and the mayor and city council knows this. Local 36 didn't elect Gray mayor the citizens did. Putting yards signs up and marking a ballot in the booth are apples and oranges. The mayor and city council owe L36 not a thing. Putting up yard signs just ensures Ed Smith gets his phone calls and emails answered quickly than normal. Also next time you go to a membership meeting take a quick attendance of the room.
Mr. Mendohlson
Im not sure I understand how 3-3-3 really works.
3 days x 12 hours + 3 nights x 12 hours means working 6 days in a row for a total of 72 hours in a work week before getting 3 days off. (I could stop here if I really though this was safer than working 24 hours on 72 off). You try both for a week each and come back here and report your experience!
Doesnt FSLA say you must get paid time and a half over 56 hours? wouldnt that be 16 hours OT on every 6 day work cycle?
Your biological clock can not adjust to the sudden change from days to nights. It shortens your life span. Its known to be one of the worst work shifts ever, worse than the 2-2-4 that civillian EMTs work now, and is usually only found in combat situations. (or diasaster management situations)
In the 12 hours between your shifts you will spend at least one-two hours in traffic even if you live with in the beltway or 30 mile radius. That leaves 10 hours to get back to your next shift. If you can get 8 hours of sleep that leaves one hour to get ready to work for the next shift and one hour to take care of your family, bathe, cook, eat, do house chores, etc. Is this even humanly possible? How can you have a family? How much more are you going to pay in additional fuel? child care? divorce lawyers? The proposal seems to be inhuman, and designed to negatively affect anyone with a famlily, children, paying a mortgage, or not living in DC. (DC Law prohibits discriminating against place of residence)
If you live in the city, you may have a little less travel time – but it will still be at the peak of rush hour. Those living within DC would have one more hour with their family max. Where can you afford to live within DC on your ff/emt salary if you have a family? lets look at map of that on a basic real estate web site where you can plug in your salary, and what level mortgage/housing you can afford.
Maybe the District can convert Barry Farms in to the DCFD living quarters and subsidize our housing costs in the name of national security. We can all live together in one big commune – black, white, brown, red, and yellow. As a lefty altruist, I kind of like that idea, except it would be the biggest unprotected terorist target with all our responders living in one place.
If this goes thru – I promise the members to take all my highly over paid "gravy train" salary and buy group housing for the members to have crash pads so they dont have to quit the careers they have dedicated their lives to, and risked their lives for the citizens of the Nation's Capital - even so they will never see their wives, husbands, and kids. I guess the leaders of this great city and department dont care if we have wives, husbands, and kids. They make two – four times what the rest of us make, work regular 9-5 jobs, get paid holidays off, merit bonuses, and have the nerve to say we are bilking the tax payer, and are a homeland security threat if we live outside the city – REALLY???
Wake up brothers – the proposal is completely absurd - this is a bait and switch tactic to get us scared sh*tless into accepting a 24/48 schedule and laying off a shift worth of people by some arbitrary process HQ conconcts. They have already admitted that we are not leaving by attrition fast enough for their plan to work. All the right wingers and left wingers need to realize that we need to sit together on the steps of the capital, the steps of city hall, the steps of the judicial branch, and really on the fems administrators lawn until he quits his job. We dont need to cry race – we need to cry human race. Go to the union hall and stand together to keep what's right and get back your time and half.
We don't have a new contract. We are only working under our old contract. We tell ourselves that we are unable to "stike" because its in our contract. This is the biggest load of crap I've ever heard of, and we all eat it everyday. Mr. Catania said, "We shouldn't pay people to sleep." I think he is clueless when it comes to our profession. Futhermore, the so called inability to strike, puts members at a disadvantage when you have a Chief who is on a rampage to "get back," his past foes. I say protest, and strike if needed. Don't pay out of pocket to clean, paint or repair your firehouses. Let the city pay to do all the repairs, and cleaning. After all it is a public space and government building. They have turned our tradition as firemen, into a business. So, we should inturn treat it like a business.