WATERTOWN PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION

I.A.F.F. LOCAL 191

PRESS RELEASE
February 18, 2018

I.A.F.F. LOCAL 191 – Comments on Expansion of Directive to

Violate Contract Terms
On February 5 of this year the Mayor and City Manager proposed to expand their
vendetta against Local 191 by further reducing the number of Firefighters on duty per shift,
commonly known as Minimum Manning. This expansion was proposed during open discussion
and in a regularly scheduled meeting of the City Council, however the deciet and dishonesty that
spawned this proposal are nothing short of malice.
During the Mayor’s comments, and in a staff-report assembled by the City Manager, the
citizens of Watertown were presented a disingenuous representation of data as well as a fanciful
tale of cost savings. They were given this without the corresponding occupational or legal
knowledge to know what the future will hold. Even that Department Head, Fire Chief Herman
has been denied the right to present his thoughts to Council by the City Manager. Essentially the
citizens of Watertown are being lied to, through the omission of pertinent facts, and the blame
for this fraudulence rests solely with the Mayor and City Manager.
To lend credence to these claims of deception Local 191 offers the following. First, that
any claimed cost savings are premature and may result in restitution greater than any potential
claimed savings. And secondly, that a re-evaluation of Watertown by ICMA/CPSM will be
costly if done correctly, and if not, is being done based on old data and unsettled legal outcomes,
but either way will more than likely be ignored as it was before.
On the first point, the appeal that is heading towards the Appellate Division, Fourth
Judicial Department may overturn the recent decision in favor of the City, and in turn could
either result in more costly re-consideration or appeal hearings at the Court of Appeals. These
legal costs coupled with the potential exposure of back-pay with penalties for knowingly
violating the contract provisions will far eclipse the fictitious short-term savings currently being
touted. Even if Local 191 were to emerge defeated from the court system the matter will be put
before an arbitrator during the Interest Arbitration over the contract. In that eventuality Local
191 has negotiated for decades to maintain Minimum Manning, for the safety of its members and
the citizens of Watertown, all at the cost of lower wage increases and benefits, and as such will
seek those loses through an arbitration award.
 WATERTOWN PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION
I.A.F.F. LOCAL 191

To the second point, the study conducted by ICMA/CPSM was disregarded when it first
came out. This was due partly to the contradictions that were presented within, but the City
seemingly wholly rejected many of the recommendations that were made in that study to include
the following:
“Based on available funding, fill any funded operational vacancies at this time and maintain
operational staffing at full strength as consistently as possible. This will reduce the reliance
on overtime that is caused by built-in overstaffing designed to fill daily vacancies created
by scheduled and unscheduled leave.” – (Center for Public Safety Management [CPSM],
2015)
“No additional operational (shift work) staffing be added at this time… No further
reduction in operational (shift work) staffing at this time.”- (CPSM, 2015)
Furthermore, regarding any recommendations concerning the removal of
manning/staffing/safety provisions it was recommended that they be BARGAINED for by the
City, not imposed through unilateral and litigious action.
While the Mayor and Manager are seemingly preparing for yet another study, and a
permanent state of conflict with organized labor, Local 191 once again, as it has innumerable
times before, proposes the following:
That status quo be restored, and that fair and honest discourse be reestablished.
Most notably status quo includes two major points; the repromotion of demoted Captains,
and a reversal of the current Minimum Manning directive. These two actions by the City have
been the genesis of most of the legal actions between the parties and a reversal on their destructive
and virulent existence could suspend further legal action and allow both sides to concentrate on
what will surely be a long and winding road back towards harmonious labor relations in the City
of Watertown.

Respectfully,

Daniel Daugherty
President - I.A.F.F. Local 191 – Watertown, NY