164 Detroit firefighters to be laid off
BY DETROIT FREE PRESS (MCT)
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
DETROIT — The city of
Detroit will lay off 164 firefighters
by the end of July,
Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s
office announced Monday.
The layoffs could be temporary,
as the city hopes to
secure a federal grant that
would restore the jobs of 108
firefighters. Still, there is no
guarantee the city will be
awarded the grant, Detroit
Fire Commissioner Donald
Austin said.
“Since I became mayor,
I’ve made public safety my
top priority, and I’ve said I
would protect the jobs of police
and firefighters, but fiscal
realities have made this
untenable,” Bing said. “With
my administration continuing
to work to fiscally stabilize
the city and with recent
cuts to the city’s budget,
we’re announcing the layoffs
of 164 Detroit Fire Department
firefighters by the end
of July.”
Bing said he hopes that
many, if not most, of the remaining
56 firefighters who
will lose their jobs will be
recalled as the department
loses others through retirement
and attrition. The Detroit
Fire Department has
881 sworn firefighters and
248 EMS technicians.
Dan McNamara, president
of the Detroit Fire Fighters
Association, called the layoffs
disastrous and said the
action will force 16 fire companies
throughout the city
to close.
“If these cuts remain,
there will be times when we
won’t have the necessary resources
to respond. We have
a disaster waiting to happen,”
McNamara said.
