Enforcing the “two hat” rules. How one New York IAFF local is handling ban on volunteering. A look at the City of Jamestown.
City Firefighters Who Volunteer Will Be Forced To Leave Union
City Not Influencing Ban On Volunteer Firefighting
It is a Labor Thing – Mike Ward’s tutorial on the history of the IAFF “two-hat” issue
In the far southwestern corner of New York State, the City of Jamestown has operated a career fire department for almost 100 years. Jamestown has four fire stations, with three engines and a ladder company.
IAFF Local 1772 represents the firefighters of Jamestown. The union is making news in Jamestown and surrounding Chautauqua County with its enforcement of IAFF’s “two hat” rule. The Jamestown Professional Firefighters Association has set April 1 as the deadline for firefighters to choose between volunteering and being an IAFF member.
There are two articles in The Post-Journal today by reporter Kristen Johnson. One is on the action by the union and the other focuses on city officials who say they are not involved in this internal union matter. Here are some relevant excerpts:
”This is just something that has been part of the IAFF for years,” said Brian Achterberg, a city firefighter and the president of the JPFA. ”We’re obligated to follow the bylaws of the IAFF.”
Achterberg, along with union treasurer Cris Dahlgren and union attorney Chuck DeAngelo, spoke with The Post-Journal recently to explain the local union’s new policy – a policy he said is merely an extension of the local union’s belief that city firefighters are an asset that should be carefully protected.
”(We) recognize our responsibility to (shield) the citizens and taxpayers of Jamestown from those costs associated with injuries due to the extinguishment of structure fires and those inherent risks,” Achterberg wrote. ”The catastrophic number of on-the-job injuries experienced by the Jamestown Fire Department last year is, without a doubt, the largest factor contributing to how and why the (union) members have chosen to approach this matter.”
”Say you’re a young guy and you’re volunteering while working for a paid department somewhere,” Dahlgren said. ”If you strain a muscle at a fire scene where you’re a volunteer firefighter, you’re bringing that strained muscle to a fire scene where you’re a paid firefighter. Part of our point is that if you’re a volunteer for a long period of time, it’s going to contribute to any injuries you get as a city firefighter.”
”We have no problem with our guys being involved in their communities. We encourage them to be members of volunteer departments in a social capacity. But they shouldn’t be doing the same work there that we do here. Don’t fight a fire as a volunteer on Sunday night and then show up to work here Monday morning beat up and hurt. The issue is not that we don’t want to be a good neighbor but that we have to protect the interests of Jamestown taxpayers.” (Quote from Brian Achterberg)
Lance Hedlund, the city’s deputy fire chief, said the decision to prohibit city firefighters from serving as firefighters in volunteer departments ”isn’t a city decision.”
”The city leaves it up to the individual,” he said. ”We do not sway them, pro or con, in their decision to join a volunteer department. The city’s position is that it’s up to you whether to join or not join.”
Hedlund said there are 42 fire departments in Chautauqua County – 39 of which are made up entirely of volunteer firefighters and two of which use a combination of paid firefighters and volunteer firefighters. Only one county department – the city of Jamestown – is a fully paid department.
”This type of issue is disappointing to me at a time when everyone is struggling,” he said. ”It appears to be more divisive than productive. It’s counterproductive to where the fire service needs to be. We have a good, open, working relationship with the surrounding volunteer departments, and I am disappointed the union would choose to go in this direction.”
