From the Daily News:Staffing at dozens of the city's busiest FDNY engine companies will be cut due to rising numbers of firefighters calling in sick, the Fire Department announced Tuesday.
The 12-month average of firefighters taking medical leave hit 7.53% at the Dec. 1 deadline, just exceeding the 7.5% contractual threshold that lets Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta cut staffing.
Effective Wednesday, the number of firefighters on 49 engine companies will be reduced from five to four.
FDNY officials have estimated the cuts - first reported in Monday's Daily News - would save the department $500,000 a month in overtime needed to cover shifts left open by sick firefighters.
Additionally, officials said that staffing a fifth firefighter on those 49 engine companies costs approximately $20 million annually.
The city's fire unions have repeatedly denounced the FDNY's threats to cut staffing, claiming the department's internal studies have shown that five-man crews work 50% more efficiently than their four-man counterparts.
The staffing change means that only 11 engine companies - units with some of the city's heaviest workloads - will have five men onboard, officials said. The other 183 will only have four.
9 comments:
Cut welfare rolls,not fire companies.
Fire politicians and we would all be better off.
So, if a certain number of firefighters call in sick, other firefighters and civilians must be maimed or killed to punish the sick-callers.
The Commissar is happy to murder people to save perhaps $500,000 per month?
He's now Commissar God, who knows the price of humans - firefighter or civilian?
Wait! Wait! I now understand. This is the Commissar's contribution to reduce unemployment. The more people he kills, the more job openings possible.
Woo! He IS our savior!
It's not even like it's "calling in sick".
Every member on medical leave is granted that medical leave by an FDNY doctor who determines duty status. Almost all are line-of-duty injuries. It's a dangerous job, and Bloomberg has been trying to cut staffing one way or the other.
It is in retaliation to all those bogus disability and injury leaves. Some are real many are BS.
But i think they should have started with the cops and sanitation at the same time.
Bogus disability? Over 1,000 firemen that worked at ground zero were forced into retirement as they were DIAGNOSED with lung ailments and decreased lung capacity due to the toxic air that Christie Whitman said was "safe to breathe".
The guys on long-term light-duty are still counted as presently on medical leave, as their respiratory condition prevents them from firefighting. Look up some facts before you drink the kool-aid from Bloomberg-owned newspapers.
Crews painting bike lines will be increased as well as city planning and all those little cogs in the line to process new building projects to be expanded substantially.
Afterall, those making the decisions don't need OuterB services like hospitals or schools or police or firemen.
Oh well, the swag haul is going to go down 20 percent per crew. Times are lean. The FDNY (land pirates)are going to have to make due with a little less booty this year.
God Bless the people who have to go into burning buildings to save people's hides.
My brother-in-law, a CO also helped dig bodies out of the World Trade Center disaster, and I fear for cancer or respiratory diseases rearing their heads any day.
It's easy to talk when you have a nice, safe job.
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