Fire Department Staffing Emerges As Key Issue In Collective Bargaining

Arlington TX

29 May, 2022

2:09 PM

Description

By Emily Wolf, Fort Worth Report May 28, 2022 Every day, about 15 firefighters take unplanned time off from work at the Fort Worth Fire Department. Four firefighters staff each fire company — a single emergency response unit. When one calls out, they're replaced by another firefighter using overtime. On April 11, Chief Jim Davis announced a staffing directive to cut down on those overtime hours. Instead of paying for someone to fill in for the full 24-hour shift, the department staffs fire companies with three firefighters for the first five hours of the shift, and pays for a replacement for the remaining 19 hours. City management is supportive of Davis' decision and believes it is consistent with the department's current collective bargaining agreement, Assistant City Manager Valerie Washington said. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.