(This story is by Harmony Birch of the Brattleboro Reformer, in which it first appeared Aug. 22, 2017.)
[B]ELLOWS FALLS — The Bellows Falls Fire Department has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the village of Bellows Falls.
The document was filed with the Vermont Department of Labor on Thursday by firefighter-paramedic David Bellimer.
Fire Department officials would not say whether the complaint was in response to an Aug. 9 vote by the village board of trustees to eliminate all four full-time firefighter positions to meet budget constraints. Voters had mandated a spending reduction at a July 20 budget revote meeting, and the trustees made the cuts to the department.
Voters approved a budget that would raise $1.7 million through taxes. The original budget by the trustee board proposed raising more than $1.94 million by taxes. The vote left the trustees $241,290 to cut.
The staffing cuts won’t take effect until December due to a 120-day notice required by the firefighters’ contracts.
The firefighters believe that one or more of the trustees proposed that Bellows Falls voters make the motion to cut the budget by $241,290 before the budget meeting. “On information and belief the motion was facilitated and or supported by one or more trustees,” the document reads.
The document also lists a number of other grievances with the trustees.
The document states that union representatives were not allowed to negotiate when the trustees at a July 11 meeting cut Fire Department response to EMS calls.
“For years, Union-represented employees have been first responders to medical calls,” the document reads. “While the private ambulances provide the [basic life support] and [advanced life support], firefighters usually arrive first. Sometimes an ambulance does not arrive for 10-15 minutes after the medical call is dispatched. When the firefighters are the first to respond to a scene for a medical call, they can take preliminary and life saving steps.”
It also claims Trustee Deborah Wright “made several public comments critical of the union.”
Wright is the trustee representative for union negotiations.
Lastly, the vote to cut all four full-time firefighters was done without opportunity to bargain or discuss with the union, the document states.
Deputy Fire Chief Steve Cenate said he could not comment on the issue at this time.
Municipal Manager Shane O’Keefe confirmed that the village had received the document.
“We’re reviewing it,” he said. The village intends to respond accordingly if the Vermont Department of Labor decides to do anything with the file. He was unable to comment further before press time.
The trustees met Tuesday evening, and Chair Myles Mickle had said earlier that the document would be discussed at the meeting.
However, very little of Tuesday’s meeting happened in public.
Before the first executive session was called, Cenate asked what studies, if any, the board had looked at before deciding to cut full-time firefighters.
Mickle said trustees’ main motivation was to meet the budget that village voters had set.
Cenate had further questions related to the Fire Department, but Wright said those questions were marked on the agenda for when the trustees were going to meet with Local 4473 of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
The meeting happened during a second executive session.
A newly formed committee will review the next steps for the Bellows Falls Fire Department.
