Professional Documents
Culture Documents
PRESS RELEASE
February 18, 2018
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