May 26, 2010 Mobile Alabama fire department stages “Sick Out” www.privateofficer.com
When 32 firefighters called in sick Saturday, Mobile Mayor Sam Jones got a call from the fire chief about a suspected outbreak of “Blue Flu”. It’s a term that means many of those taking off might not be sick, but protesting.
“We don’t plan for any employee in the city of Mobile, to try to hold the citizens or the city hostage, and we won’t tolerate that. We don’t know that to be the case, but if that is the case, then the appropriate actions will be taken,” Mayor Jones said.
According to Mayor Jones any firefighters who violated rules or policy could face disciplinary action.
The Blue Flu incident came up at Tuesday City Council meeting.
“I don’t know whether it’s the Blue Flu or the Red Flu, the fire department drives red vehicles, not blue, but I do have a concern about the safety of our citizens,” said council member Fred Richardson.
Richardson is chairman of the Public Safety committee. Even though the city council has no authority over city employees, he wants a report on what happened.
“The legal department is trying to see whether or not any rules or laws were broken in doing that. If so, I think the mayor needs to take whatever action he deems is necessary. Our goal is to protect our citizens,” Richardson said.
The firefighters are upset because of budget cuts that have eliminated overtime, and the number of riders on some trucks have been reduced from four to three.
City council member Connie Hudson says she can sympathize with the firefighters concerns.
“I’m not going to stand here and excuse any actions or any calling in sick or whatever, but I understand that if they feel that they’re lives are being put at risks by this shortage, I can understand their frustration,” Hudson said.
There is some good news for firefighters. Chief Dean said the department will no longer run trucks with fewer than four firefighters.
“You’ll see changes in the staffing on the trucks as of today. Because they’ll just be less trucks. There will just be more staff on the trucks that are running,” the chief said.
That news may come too late for some firefighters who called in sick over the past weekend.
“The same people who are now saying that’s a problem, contributed to the problem this weekend. If 30 people intentionally stayed out, because they were protesting that they were at risk, and then they would put their other firefighters, the other 300 or so firefighters are risks based on that, then I would have some serious problems with their judgment,” said Mayor Jones.
The mayor expects a decision on possible disciplinary action by the week.
The fire chief says the department will take as many trucks out of service as necessary to make sure there are four people on every truck. But Chief Dean says they could increase the response time for some calls.
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