Bangor firefighters pack council chambers to foyer for premium pay
About 50 Bangor firefighters crammed the town council chambers throughout a Monday evening assembly lobbying for the council to make use of federal COVID-19 aid for premium pay.
The Bangor firefighters union, Native 772 of the Worldwide Affiliation of Firefighters, requested greater than $817,000 to supply bonuses to first responders, nevertheless it ranked 51st out of 60 requests made for the town’s $20.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding after a evaluate performed by a volunteer panel.
The burgeoning dispute between firefighters and metropolis officers is a aspect impact of the method that has ruled Bangor’s use of the federal cash. It developed slower than different Maine cities and cities, with a lot of the work in vetting functions outsourced to an outdoor group.
The union argues that cash, which might roughly equal two $3,000 funds for every worker, would assist entice new workers and retain present ones till subsequent spring when bargaining for a brand new contract begins, Jared Willey, a Bangor firefighter and president of Native 772 of the Worldwide Affiliation of Firefighters, stated.
“Even previous to the pandemic, our firefighters have been already burdened with compounding stressors akin to bodily exhaustion, heightened most cancers dangers, and the enduring toll on their psychological well being, together with emotional and psychological burnout,” Willey stated.
Some 34 hearth division workers left throughout or shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic and the division is going through a roughly 12 p.c worker deficit, Willey stated. Greater than a dozen firefighters and paramedics spoke Monday evening about serving to individuals sick with COVID-19, residing away from their households in the course of the pandemic to reduce the danger of getting them sick, and burnout.
“What I keep in mind most in regards to the pandemic was considering ‘I hope I can get COVID, that method I can have two weeks off,’” Andrew Rioux, a firefighter since 2019, stated. “Members of the town council, that is what burnout is, and the fireplace service and EMS have been burned out for years.”
Whereas they have been ready for the assembly to start, firefighters carried out an elevator rescue when the small elevator in metropolis corridor stopped working, Willey stated.
The union is certainly one of 60 events asking for a few of the greater than $16 million in pandemic aid funding the town has left to offer. Metropolis councilors are first contemplating 25 of the 60 functions the town acquired {that a} volunteer evaluate panel gave the very best scores to.
The Coronary heart of Maine United Manner oversaw 45 volunteers who evaluated functions for funding and made suggestions to the council. The evaluate panel gave the functions a rating based mostly on standards the Bangor councilors set.
These first 25 functions are being thought-about in weekly workshops based mostly on their “space of emphasis,” or what challenge the proposals intention to fight, akin to homelessness or substance use. Collectively, the highest 25 proposals ask for greater than $21.4 million.
The evaluate panel critiqued the request by asking about how one-time pay would recruit and encourage first responders, in keeping with the United Manner’s report. Members additionally didn’t perceive how the cash can be allotted. Regardless of these questions, the panel beneficial the town fill the union’s request.
The councilors beforehand harassed that this plan for methods to take into account the very best scoring functions doesn’t imply the town will mechanically give the requested quantity of funding to the 25 top-ranked candidates.
Paying important staff is without doubt one of the few issues pandemic aid funding can be utilized for, in keeping with federal guidelines. Portland firefighters acquired a $1,000 bonus within the metropolis’s first ARPA tranche and $2,500 within the second, a metropolis spokesperson Jessica Grondin stated in April.
Bangor firefighters acquired an extra $2 per hour from April 26, 2020 to July 11, 2020, which amounted to an extra $400 for every worker, Willey stated.
