THE CHIEF LEADER

FEB 13, 2009

Altered Schedules At EMS Are Pushed Back a Month
Longer Hours, Fewer Days
By ARI PAUL

The alternative work schedule for Emergency Medical Service members under current union contracts has been delayed a month until March 1, the Fire Department has confirmed.

FDNY spokesman Jim Long said a problem with restructuring the payrolls for those opting into the schedule made it unable to start the program on time, and the slight delay was meant "to ensure that those working the schedule are appropriately compensated."

Can Opt for 12-Hour Shifts

Tom Eppinger, who as president of Local 3621 of District Council 37 represents EMS officers, said that the pilot program was supposed to launch in District 3, which covers most of Brooklyn, and would allow EMS members to opt out of working five eight-hour shifts and work 12-hours shifts and get more days off in a month.

"You would work three, have off two, work two, have off three; that's how it works," Mr. Eppinger said last week in a phone interview.

The alternative work schedule was a major issue in the last EMS contract negotiations.

The union leader said that members were informed Jan. 27 that the new hours wouldn't go into effect, which disrupted some members' schedules because they had made child-care arrangements based on the 12-hour days.

"My members are very upset," he said.

Banking on March Launch

Mr. Eppinger added that he did not believe that the delay was anything other than the result of an administrative oversight, and said that he would try to work with the FDNY to make sure the schedule would be available by March 1.

Patrick J. Bahnken, who as president of Local 2507 of DC 37 represents Paramedics and Emergency Medical Technicians, said the delay added to his general frustration about what he saw as unwillingness on the department's part to work with the unions.

"Given this economic climate, I'm not surprised," he said. "It seems that the Fire Department can't get anything right these days."