Staff Photo by Dan Henry/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Senior Firefighter Joel Bustos, left, trains Firefighter Brandon Atkins for his aerial apparatus operator test outside of the Chattanooga Fire Department Station No. 1 early Tuesday morning.Changes to time-off rules for Chattanooga firefighters have City Council members seeking a solution that won't cost more money.
Firefighters and union representatives say that replacing four unpaid days off each year with five paid days -- a change given to other city employees in July -- would result in an unfair distribution of time off for firefighters' nontraditional schedules.
City Council members are looking at options that could include: allowing firefighters to keep the unpaid days in addition to new paid days, approving overtime pay or increasing the amount of time off firefighters can roll over into the next year.
During the council's Finance Committee meeting Tuesday night, Councilwoman Deborah Scott asked for a cost analysis of each option. The analysis is due to the council by its Dec. 14 meeting.
At the meeting, Chattanooga Firefighters Association Local 820 Secretary Rusty Rymer said that, by taking away the unpaid days, firefighters end up gaining only one day of paid time off while the rest of city employees gain five.
"Don't give to the rest of the city and take away from us," he said.
The four unpaid days, known in firefighting circles as "Kelly Days," keep firefighters from working overtime during the first four pay periods of the year, Rymer said.
Firefighters work nine 24-hour shifts in each 27-day pay period. They do not receive traditional holidays such as Thanksgiving or Christmas off because of the around-the-clock nature of fire department staffing.
To avoid overtime, firefighters are forced to use 12 hours of personal time each pay period, with the specific day chosen by their supervisor, Rymer said. The firefighters are paid for those hours, he said, but many find it difficult to schedule time for family or planning for medical leave while still getting paid.
At the committee meeting, Fire Lt. Chip O'Dell argued that firefighters should retain the four Kelly Days and receive the same paid time off that all other city employees enjoy.
"They're taking 12 hours from our vacation each [pay] period to keep from paying us overtime," he said.
KELLY DAYSA Kelly Day is an unpaid day off given to a municipal firefighter to reduce their hours in a pay period, which would otherwise cost the city overtime pay.They are called Kelly Days because one system was devised in 1936 by Chicago Mayor Edward J. Kelly for the Chicago Fire Department.Source: Chattanooga Firefighters Association Local 820
Chattanooga Fire Chief Randy Parker said time-off problems result in staffing headaches. Though no money is paid to firefighters for the Kelly Days, crews must have someone else on duty when a firefighter is taking a Kelly Day or be short one firefighter on a shift, he said.
Under National Fire Prevention Association standards, each fire crew should have four firefighters responding to a call -- two to enter a building and two to run the exterior equipment.
"In February, there were zero days we had four people," Parker said after the meeting.
With 360 firefighters on staff and without allowing overtime pay, his crews are at three firefighters most days, he said.
At the end of the committee meeting, Chairwoman Carol Berz reminded council members that changes the 2010 budget already had been passed and major deviations might require budget amendments.
Councilman Jack Benson worried that further changes would cost the city money it doesn't have.
Contact staff writer Todd South at tsouth@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6347.