From Firehouse.com: A judge has ordered the reinstatement of six Mansfield firefighters after ruling Thursday that the layoffs went against the union contract, according to The Mansfield News Journal.
Richland County Common Pleas Judge James DeWeese issued a preliminary injunction requiring the city to return to staff levels of 88 fire suppression positions with 21 firefighters on duty for each shift, which was set by the contract in 2009.
The ruling is only temporary and will remain in effect until an arbitrator decides if the city can eliminate the positions.
The six firefighters -- along with four police officers -- were laid off in February as part of budget cuts after the city was place under fiscal emergency last August.
Mansfield is the largest city in Ohio to be placed on fiscal emergency status.
http://www.firehouse.com/news/top-headlines/judge-reverses-ohio-firefighter-layoffs
So, a city is a financial disaster and the union contracts don't allow for layoffs to help solve the crisis. The city is unable to solve it's problems because a public employee union and the contract.
Yes, the City was stupid to put into the contract a minimal staffing level, but if the City had the means to change the work rules, this would ruling would never have had to happen.
From the article from the Mansfield News Journal, the safety protection budget has over a $4,000,000 deficit. It's not a safety issue because this only a drop of two firefighters a shift.
So, now, the city will have to layoff other police officers, 9-11 operators to make up for bringing back the laid off firefighters, thereby putting people more at risk for crimes and delayed response times.
Another reason to get rid of public employee unions.
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