DE Firefighters' Request Denied on Shift Changes

The Wilmington firefighters union has been denied a stay of an arbitrator's ruling concerning changes to fire department scheduling that are set to take effect starting next month.

WDEL News reports that the Delaware Public Employment Relations Board on Monday denied a request by IAFF Local 1590 for a stay on a binding decision on its contract with the City of Wilmington concerning the changes.

The arbitration ruling, which was originally handed down on May 27, sided with the city's "last, best offer" on a new contract that included changing the firefighters' work shifts from 24 hours on and 72 hours off to 24 hours on and 48 hours off. That change is slated to take effect on July 1.

IAFF Local 1590 attorney Aaron Shapiro said that arguing for the stay was no longer about simply swapping schedules.

"What this has turned into is," Shapiro said, "as we have argued, quite frankly a wholesale disenfranchisement in this case of the firefighters of the right to bargain for their hours of work."

The Board's decision came during a 90-minute online hearing, but it did leave open an appeal opportunity for the union. The union has two weeks to file an appeal, and the city will then have two additional weeks to respond before a hearing for oral arguments is scheduled.