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Newly re-elected Uni formed Firefighters' Associa tion President Stephen J. Cassidy didn't have time to rest on his laurels last week. After briefly celebrating his June 13 win, and then the passage of a 9/11 disability measure affording pension rights to firefighters and oth er city workers he returned to the task that many public sector union leaders are grappling with this summer, getting a wage contract from City Hall.
"It's got to be resolved," Mr. Cassidy said during an interview with the CHIEF LEADER at union headquarters June 16. "By all accounts the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association contract will be coming down soon. We're watching carefully."
Other Key Issues
Pressuring the Fire Department to better track its response times, increasing FDNY participation at the command level in the City wide Incident Management System and maintaining en gine company staffing levels are also high on his agenda.
Mr. Cassidy declined to dis cuss contract details, saying he didn't want to negotiate through the press, but com mented that he thought the Fire Department's manpower could be better utilized by Mayor Bloomberg in the city's anti-terrorism efforts.
"We could be an extra set of eyes and ears," Mr. Cassidy said. "This is a port town, and all our security officials say we're vulnerable in that area. We can do a lot of inspection and prevention work. But it would take time, training, resources and commitment from this administration."
The lack of a contract for firefighters was an issue that Mr. Cassidy's challenger, Thomas DaParma, hoped he could use to unseat the incumbent. In the end he fell 660 votes short, getting 3,008 to the winner's 3,668. But the results were far closer than Mr. Cassidy would have liked, and in mulling them over, he admitted there might be a message there for him.
"Well, we didn't do any exiting polling," he said jokingly. "But in all seriousness, we have been doing everything we can to get a better deal for our members. This is a very unique Mayor. He doesn't believe he needs la bor support. I think we've re acted accordingly, but we'll be working even harder for firefighters as the situation progresses."
Bruising Campaign
Most of the election cam paigning took place below the radar of the general pub lic because candidates agreed to a press gag order until the votes were in, but it was a hard-fought battle. Some tactics drew criticism from union members, particularly a flyer released by Mr. Cassidy that revealed negative information regarding Mr. DaParma's son, who is a Firefighter. Asked if he had any regrets about how he handled his campaign, the union leader didn't want to dwell on the flyer, but acknowledged that the way it was written was a mistake.
"It was a long campaign," he said. "At the end of it, something got written that probably shouldn't have."
Looking forward, Mr. Cassidy said, he plans to keep pushing City Hall to find a better way to track fire re sponse times. He testified earlier this year at a City Council hearing in support of two pieces of legislation pro posed by Council Members Yvette Clarke and Alan Gerson that sought to change the way the Fire Department logs arrivals on fire scenes.
Focus on CIMS
Tied to that issue, he said, is the need to keep engine companies staffed with five firefighters and stave off any more firehouse closings. The UFA hasn't accepted the role assigned to firefighters in the CIMS document, either. The union hopes to be able to work with the Mayor, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and Police Commis sioner Raymond W. Kelly to establish a chain of command that includes FDNY chiefs at the highest levels at HazMat and other biochemical incidents.
But Mr. Cassidy, who has established ties with many elected officials in Washing ton through his endorsement of President George W. Bush and through his lobbying ef forts to bring Federal money to the city for anti-terrorism initiatives, said the union has expanded its vision be yond the local level.
"I'd welcome a chance to talk openly and honestly with the Mayor on this, and on any number of issues," said Mr. Cassidy. "I'm always willing to sit down with him. But the CIMS document comes up for Federal review next year and we've got some good contacts in D.C. The UFA is very well-positioned and we've made a lot of political friends."
In New York, as well, the union leader said, he's made efforts to connect with law makers and City Council Members. UFA members regularly trek to Albany to lobby the State Legislature.
'Look to Military'
Mr. Cassidy also had definite ideas on what the Fire Department should do to solve its diversity and re cruitment problems. He'd like to see the 30-college credit requirement dropped or lessened, more recruitment from the military, and an effort from the FDNY to target potential firefighters at the high school level.
"There needs to be an edu cational component to the written exam to make sure candidates can read and learn, because there's a tre mendous amount of material to process over the course of a career, he said. "But we need to get kids earlier, let them know this is a good job for them, and remove at least some of the barrier of college credits. How many college students can pay the high tuitions of today and then turn around and take a $33,000 a-year job? And in this post-9/11 world, we should definitely be pulling from the military. I've suggested that numerous times to this ad ministration."
Three years ago, when Mr .Cassidy first took office, he (and most of his officers) had no political experience. Fire fighters were struggling to regroup after the loss of 343 members. A rash of embar rassing publicity about drunk-driving incidents and public brawls in recent years
further lowered morale. It was a lot to take in, Mr. Cassidy said.
"There were some things that I did wrong the first years," he noted. "You make a decision based on what you think is right at the time, and then looking back, you see maybe you should have done it differently. I've learned since then, because you grow from mistakes. I'm taking that experience forward."
Bloomberg Formidable
The biggest challenge to the union, he said, will be ne gotiating this summer with a Mayor who's proven to be a shrewd and sharp adversary when bargaining contracts and a skillful practitioner of thrust-and-parry politics.
"He's a very smart man. I am careful not to underesti mate him-I think a lot of people did in the beginning, and maybe I was one of them. Not anymore," Mr. Cassidy stated. "Bloomberg's become a better politician. But at the same time, so have I."
Proving his point, Mr. Cassidy gave an uncharac teristically circumspect response when asked at the end of the interview whom the UFA was going to endorse for Mayor.
"We certainly will endorse someone," he said. "But let's see how things play out over the summer and how the contracts go. Look for an an swer in November." |
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