Hialeah to Layoff Firefighters

Some jobs have, traditionally, been more stable than others. Some of the jobs that are usually able to weather the economic storms well include health care professionals, civil servants, police officers and firefighters. After all, the services that the provide are so vital to our everyday lives, and the smooth functioning of society, that we just cannot do without them, right?

Well, as it turns out the good people of the city of Hialeah may have to find out what they are going to do when they have to do without a number of thier firefighters.

That is unless the city and the union can come to some kind of an agreement that will allow them to save the needed dollars and keep people in their jobs. Unless the Hialeah officials and union leaders representing the fire personnel come to some form of an agreement the city will end up with what are being called “massive layoffs” by some.

The deadline to reach an agreement occurs during this week. If there is no agreement firefighters could be laid off as soon as today.

Prior to this a temporary agreement was in place. That agreement, which was negotiated in October, expired on Wednesday. It was designed to give the city and the union more time to come to an agreement without cutting back on jobs. As they have yet to reach an agreement up to 35 of the cities firefighters could be out a job in order to sate the city’s need for cuts to the budget.

Some of you may remember our earlier coverage of the temporary negotiations, when the major asked the firefighters to give up their holiday pay in order to help make the budget work. Here is an excerpt from that coverage.

“Last Wednesday, Mayor Carlos Hernandez repeated his calls for union negotiations to resume in order to avoid more layoffs in the department. He has a new money saving plan, but he was not forthcoming on all of the details, and that may be one of the reasons that the union has not been ready to discuss the new terms. “Here I am. Please come to the table,” Hernandez said to Florida reporters in a statement. The message was aimed at the union leader.”

Of course, these negotiations have been going on for quite some time, though there was some debate as to why the budget cuts were happening at all. Back in May we covered the issue.

“…Hialeah, Florida (the town, as it turns out, not the racetrack itself) is currently facing the prospect of 250 layoffs during 2010. Mayor Julio Robaina says the layoffs are in anticipation of a drop in city revenues that could total some $18 million in the next fiscal year. The city’s three unions, representing police, firefighters, and city workers, have reacted angrily to the news. Mario Pico, president of the Hialeah Association of Fire Fighters said, “We have been told we’re fine. We have a balanced budget. Our city is perfect … For us, it’s simple: What caused this change? We don’t know what is the true financial situation of the city is.”