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North Providence Fire Fighters Fight to Reopen Fire Station
June 2, 2010 – North Providence, RI Local 2334 fire fighters have been working to reopen their second-busiest fire station ever since the City’s mayor closed its doors in December 2009. Their latest efforts included an informational picket outside a political fundraiser for the mayor. “That fire station closure has really hindered our ability to keep citizens safe,” says Local 2334 President John Silva. “With more than 400 of our brother and sister fire fighters from around the state, we marched outside the fundraiser carrying picket signs. With such large numbers, we sent a strong message to the mayor: we will not stand for anything that puts public safety at risk.”
When Charles Lombardi was elected to office in 2007, the City had a balanced budget. Since then, the budget deficit has escalated to $10 million. The administration blames the economy and reduced state aid.
Mayor Lombardi decided to put some of the budget woes squarely on the shoulders of the North Providence Local 2334 fire fighters. When the mayor went into contract negotiations with Local 2334, he pushed to severely reduce minimum staffing.
“We have a minimum staffing clause in our contract,” says Local 2334 Executive Board Member Derek Charello. “We were not willing to give that up, but we did offer many other budget reduction options. However, the City administration did not take any of those options seriously.”
Instead, Mayor Lombardi shut down North Providence’s second-busiest fire stations. No fire fighters were laid off, but dispersed to other stations. Meanwhile, Local 2334 has worked to reopen the fire station, including taking legal action and, most recently, conducting the informational picket.
North Providence fire fighters report that they have already experienced longer response times and fire ground operations delays. So far, no fatalities have resulted from the station closure.
