The Chicago Sun-Times has an article which describes Chicago Police and Fire union responses to proposals by the Chicago inspector general:
Police and fire unions on Thursday torched a $1.2 billion roadmap from the city’s inspector general that calls for reducing staffing levels on fire apparatus, converting 20 percent of all engines and trucks to ambulances, staffing the Fire Prevention Bureau with civilians and eliminating “non-salary compensation” for firefighters and police officers.
Tom Ryan, president of the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2, said Inspector General Joe Ferguson’s “far-fetched” suggestions would “most certainly endanger the lives” of Chicago residents, employees and visitors as well as his own members.
The National Fire Protection Association recommends that a minimum of five firefighters staff each piece of fire apparatus in high-target areas, which includes Chicago, a densely-populated city with “high-rise buildings, special needs facilities, industrial and manufacturing districts and numerous hazardous materials-producing institutions,” Ryan said.
Fraternal Order of Police President Mike Shields was equally incensed by the $144.4 million proposal to eliminate “non-salary compensation” and by Ferguson’s proposal to hire civilians for the Chicago Police Department’s Forensic and Administrative Services Bureaus ($6.7 million).
The entire article can be found HERE.
#1 by matt on October 25, 2013 - 4:06 PM
hey tom sounds more like a personal grudge than a legitimate argument. what difference does it make to anyone if people work side jobs and how does it effect the way it works in the city. I know quite a few firemen that dont work any job on the side.
#2 by DMc77 on October 2, 2012 - 7:33 PM
I work for a dept that is 4.5 sq miles and we do just over 6000 runs a year (with the same 3-man suppression/2-man amb). We have very similar, if not identical residential building construction as they do across the street in Austin, which sees a heavy workload for EMS and fire suppression. To our north in Galewood, those numbers drop off sharply, and the CFD companies there do not see the workload, and the neighborhoods are next to each other. There are plenty of companies in the CFD that are as busy or slower. True, certain areas of the city do see a tremendous amount of fire duty and EMS runs compared to the burbs, but there are a lot of areas of the city that are more suburban than they are urban.
So the numbers are relative based on the type of community served. And as much as I would love to have 4-5 man companies in my dept, I really would hate to see the CFD lose their 5th man (they already have numerous variances every day so a lot of CFD companies are often running with 4), but I think the Rahminator has other plans for them …
I won’t go into a long diatribe about the side job argument, but the IAFF and the Northern District passed resolutions prohibiting secondary employment in a fire/EMS capacity, which L2 chooses not to rigidly enforce. This comes at a time when L2 is going to need all the strength they can muster against a new mayor who has already shown he is a tough negotiator.
#3 by Fred on October 2, 2012 - 3:38 PM
Is this the same bean counting Inspector General Joe Ferguson that caused Comm Hoff to throw up his hands and retire? We miss you Boss.
By the way….great site !
#4 by scott on October 2, 2012 - 3:04 PM
Chicago workloads can NOT be compared to the burbs. I am not on CFD, but a pretty good sized suburban dept. We run 3-man engines & 2 on the ambulance because that is what the village allows. Believe me, if we could run 4 on an engine we would. However, as much as I hate to admit it, the stats show more fires in Chicago then they do the burbs (except for Harvey, Cicero and some of Div 20). So you have to work the politics and the reality of the hazards and fires occurring.
Most guys work other jobs because they have to to pay bills and live … not because they wanna ride fire trucks …
My opinion, this blog is not the place for the side job argument. Argue it in person or thru your local! Keep this site a fan site for articles and pictures instead of the constant political BS that comes up!
FYI, I’m a different Scott then the first posting about the 2.7 million… But I agree completely with that post!
#5 by Scott on October 2, 2012 - 1:29 PM
Not one single suburb of Chicago has a population of 2.7 million. Don’t criticize them for working other jobs, unless that is, you know each and every one of their reasons for doing so.
#6 by Tom on October 2, 2012 - 8:26 AM
I think its hard to justify 5 man companies when a lot of Chicago firefighters work in the suburbs part time on 2 and 3 man companies. Quit doing that and maybe you have an argument.