(CBS DETROIT) — Firefighters in Michigan have been unable to negotiate staffing levels for nearly three decades, but they hope to change that in these final days of the legislative session.
House Bill 4688 would allow fire departments to negotiate staffing levels here in Michigan. Currently, the Michigan Professional Firefighters Union says Michigan has far fewer firefighters per population than neighboring states like Ohio.
“If we don’t have enough people, it’s not just the fatigue of the firefighters, the risk of injury, but also mental health. People are getting hurt, and it’s not just our people getting hurt, it’s our residents too,” said union president Matthew. Sahr. “If we’re transporting someone and we don’t have enough people to carry them, for example even during a simple ambulance run, we could drop a patient and cause further injury if it’s not necessary.”
The bill is opposed by groups like the Michigan Municipal League.
“While we obviously want safe staffing, whether it’s police, fire or corrections staff, the main concern is that municipalities are simply being punished for circumstances far beyond their control,” said Dave Hodgkins, legislative assistant with the Michigan Municipal League. .
The union says the bill was introduced almost six months ago, but has not made much progress since then. That delay is especially frustrating for firefighter Joe Duay, who said the power to negotiate is at stake here.
‘Let’s talk about it. Let’s see what is safe. Let’s see what kind of money there is,” Duay said.
