NY City Sees Cost Savings with Sick Time Policy

WATERTOWN — The city has saved more than $32,000 in overtime costs since a policy began in November that no longer allows firefighters to fill in for colleagues who call in sick.

Mayor Joseph M. Butler Jr. said he believes the city can save a lot more money if the sick policy was expanded to prohibit firefighters from being called in to work if their colleagues are on vacation, have scheduled time off or are on bereavement leave.

“It’s going to save money,” he said. “There’s no disputing that.”

In a memo to council members on Thursday, City Manager Sharon A. Addison wrote she’s also recommending not to “backfill” firefighters in those situations.

As with the sick time policy, firefighters would not be called in to work as long as there are 13 or more of their colleagues on duty. The heavy rescue truck that was manned by two firefighters will remain mothballed and not go on calls.

The mayor’s proposal is the latest twist in a nasty 3½-year contract dispute between the city and the Watertown Professional Fire Fighters Association Local 191.

The main sticking point is the “minimum manning” clause in the contract that requires 15 firefighters are on duty at all times.

City Council members will learn more about the mayor’s proposal when they meet Tuesday night.

On Friday, Mayor Butler said he doesn’t know if he’ll get support for the measure, adding that he plans to talk to council members over the weekend to see if he can persuade them.

The four council members have been critical of the city dragging out the contract dispute any longer.

As of Thursday, the sick policy has saved the city $32,062, according to the city manager’s memo. Since November, there have been 192 shifts of which six, or just 3 percent, were staffed by 13 firefighters and 51 times when 14 firefighters were on duty.

But Fire Chief Dale C. Herman, who has raised safety concerns about not backfilling, said Friday the data doesn’t mean the sick policy is working.

“It’s something to say it’s working when it’s been done only six times,” he said. “And with none of them, we’ve had a working fire.”

Chief Herman had hoped to talk to council members about the issue during a work session.

But union President Daniel Daugherty accused the city manager of denying the fire chief’s request for a work session because she doesn’t want him to answer their questions. As a result, they won’t get the full picture about expanding the sick time policy, he said.

“The chief’s answers would be contrary to the agenda the mayor and city manager are trying to push,” he said.

Ms. Addison disputed that claim, saying she did not deny the fire chief’s request for a work session to discuss the issue.

Expanding the policy is based on a recent judge’s decision about the minimum manning policy going to arbitration, which could allow the city to expand the sick policy, she said.

In January, state Supreme Court Judge James P. McClusky ruled that minimum manning violates public policy because elected officials should control the budget though managing the costs of employees.

But Mr. Daugherty cautioned the union is appealing the judge’s decision. He believes a higher court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, in Rochester, will reverse that decision and that the minimum manning clause will eventually be decided by an arbitrator, in favor of the union.

Since the Feb. 15 meeting, Ms. Addison has arranged for the Center for Public Safety Management, a Washington, D.C.-based consultant that completed a 2015 fire study report, to conduct a total re-evaluation of the fire department’s staffing levels and deployment model, as was requested by the mayor.

In the interim, the consultant also recommended that City Council extend the sick time directive. Mr. Daugherty was surprised to hear that since CPSM completed its study several years ago and is no longer that familiar with the fire department.

Mr. Daugherty reiterated that both sides should go back to the negotiating table and iron out an agreement rather than wrangling over yet another issue.

The city believes the fire department is overstaffed, while the union contends the minium manning clause is a safety issue.

With 15 firefighters on duty most of last year, staffing shortages from sick time cost the city $195,198, up from $154,764 in 2016.

The city paid $656,021 in total overtime costs in 2017. The union, however, contends that overtime costs have increased because the city manager won’t fill vacancies when firefighters have retired.

The 70-member firefighters’ union has been without a contract since July 2014.

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