WPRO News and the Associated Press
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — The Rhode Island Supreme Court has denied a request from Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza’s administration to shelf an upcoming arbitration hearing with the city’s firefighters.
The ruling means that city and fire officials can proceed with their Dec. 16 arbitration hearing, which stems from a dispute over how much firefighters should be paid given the increase to their average work week from 42 hours to 56 hours per week.
“I think the courts have been fairly consistent up to this point,” Paul Doughty, president of Providence Firefighters Local 799 of the International Association of Fire Fighters told WPRO’s Steve Klamkin. “The unions agree that they can change the shifts but what we don’t agree with is that they can make us work more hours without compensation, and that’s the situation that exists.”
An August amendment to the Providence Fire Department’s scheduling structure has the city moving from a four-platoon system to a three-platoon arrangement in an effort to cut costs.
The city is appealing a lower court decision to authorize the arbitration process and had asked the state Supreme Court to suspend the scheduled arbitration hearing while its challenge was being considered.
Doughty also joined WPRO’s Gene Valicenti on Thursday morning to discuss the dismissal and the union’s plans moving forward. LISTEN BELOW:
