Tulsa Firefighters Union Votes to Save Jobs
February 9, 2010
Quick vote left firefighters with a 5.2% pay cut but saved 147 firefighters jobs. The union members voted to save the jobs and save the city of Tulsa from serious risk.
The answer came as a sigh of relief for many Tulsan’s when they heard the firefighters voted to save the jobs of 147 of their own. In a recent vote, firefighters agreed to a 5.2% pay cut along with other lost benefits in order to save the 147 jobs on the line.
Stan May, the President of the Tulsa Firefighters Local 176, stated, “There’s nobody else trained to do what we do,” … “If we took 147 firefighters off the streets, we would put this city in serious risk.”
The vote came down to 442 to 177 to agree with the mayor proposal that did include the 5.2% pay cut for 17 months, the elimination of fitness pay, elimination of clothing allowance, and 8 unpaid furlough days for the next fiscal year.
The sad news is that Tulsa is still short in city official’s protection as 124 Tulsa police officers were laid off along with 59 civilian employees after the unions refused pay cuts.
Mayor Dewey Bartlett stated his appreciation for the firefighters of the city, “We can now get on with the business we were all hired to perform, to deliver quality services and protection to the citizens of Tulsa,” Bartlett said. “We offered a very good plan to the fire union members in order to retain all our workforce, and our collaborative discussions with the fire union leaders were obviously productive.”
The highlights of the proposal included the 5.2% salary cuts, eliminations of fitness pay and clothing allowance, restructuring of the department, and the ability to save 147 firefighters jobs.
On Friday, the Tulsa Fraternal Order of Police union voted 583 against and 66 for with a similar proposal from the Mayors office. The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal employees Local 1180 also put a similar proposal to vote with the results being 533 against and 196 for. Since the proposal was voted against lays off went ahead as scheduled.
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2 Comments to Tulsa Firefighters Union Votes to Save Jobs
Comments
My hats off to the firefighters. It’s a bad scene all around, and it made me sorry to see the police department had to lose jobs.
Hope they get the funding in the near future to get their salaries back.
James´s last blog ..Three blue jays
James, I agree it is amazing to me how we continue to allow the important things in our country to suffer yest the overpaid politicians continue to vote in raises for themselves. With our great nation still being under attack the one area we cannot afford to cut is our firefighters or police, as these folks are truly our first line of defense.
God Bless America
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