Albany Firefighters have overwhelmingly ratified an agreement its leadership negotiated with Mayor Kathy Sheehan that would maintain full-staffing and apparatus, including the South End-based Ladder 1.
Firefighters Union president Bob Powers says his group worked cooperatively with the city to identify ways to recover costs for critical advance life support services and ensure minimum staffing levels across Albany.
The firefighters have urged the city to maintain its Fire Department’s personnel strength at 245, rather than the current 232, to ensure that staffing shortfalls do not contribute to overtime costs. Under the agreement ratified Friday, only eight firefighters will be permitted to take vacations at the same time – down from 12 under the current contract – which will reduce overtime costs, helping save $1.2 million in firefighter overtime that was needed to balance the 2015 budget.
