Citing hostile working conditions and unveiled hints of discrimination and harassment, the Berlin Mayor and Council today announced the town was disassociating itself from and ceasing all financial aid to the Berlin Fire Company (BFC).
The Berlin Mayor and Council on Tuesday announced it will amend its fiscal year 2013 budget to cease all financial aid to the BFC as a result of the organization’s inability to accept basic requirements of the town’s personnel policies to eliminate workplace harassment based on sexual orientation, race and sex of paid emergency medical services (EMS) employees at the Berlin Fire House. The funding support is also being withdrawn from the budget because the BFC has allegedly seriously breached the terms of an employment agreement for paid EMS personnel with the town in effect since 2009.
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44 comments:
David fitzgerald is also in charge of this bunch
I thought Fitzgerald left that job.
No he is the vol. president
Brutal, but to the point? Like we don't have EEOC problems in SFD?
Sounds like the town trying to press affirmative action to me. Is that the case? We all can see how well that works.Not! If he or she is qualified and or more qualified they should deserve the position. Not just based on the color of the skin or their sex like the government so much likes to do.
Sounds like a one sided press release from the town.
Sounds that way to me too 5:32 and if that is the case the mayor and council deserve a thumbs down.
Salisbury should do the same with it's fire department. The current leadership, and I use that term loosely, has been a part of the hostile work environment for years and Ireton just ignores the problems.
Turn them into a privatly owned fire dept.
5:47pm you are wrong, this has been going on for a long time. Just ask the volunteer chiefs who recently resigned.
I'm sure everyone participated including the so called victim!
What is happening is what's happening all across the country with the volunteer fire departments. Up in PA and in VA where I have friends in the FD (volunteers) they say the paid EMS will not even let them drive the ambulance because they want a paid person to do it. This has created much backstabbing and all kinds of allegations being tossed around. The volunteers feel the paid staff is attempting to run them out in order to create a paid FD.
It is a privately owned corporation ran by volunteers. What a dumb remark. It should be ran by Worcester County.
And WTH does this have to do with the Town of Berlin and the hostile work environment?
Berlin fire company has been an outstanding organization for many years. All this has been caused by one little crybaby and a power hungry town manager. The fire company only became part of the town for benefits of the career ambulance employee's. This entire matter is truely a sad situation for the fire company and has changed the way they will do business forever.
"EMS" employment agreement? As in union?
Sounds to me like they are attempting to run out the volunteers and are quite possibly manufacturing and/or embellishing on incidences to get their wish of an all paid FD.
Let's just keep it vlunteer. As soon as it becomes municipal, unions will get involved and push out the vollies, thus the future stranglehold on the towns. I call BS. Vollies rule. (and I am not an amergency personel, nor have I ever transpired to do so.)
Do all ff's and emt's have ego problems?
Great post Joe! You always do keep us informed.
BTW I didn't know Jim was firefighter. ;)
Anonymous said...
Let's just keep it vlunteer. As soon as it becomes municipal, unions will get involved and push out the vollies, thus the future stranglehold on the towns. I call BS. Vollies rule. (and I am not an amergency personel, nor have I ever transpired to do so.)
August 21, 2012 7:07 PM
If you weren't a so called "emergency personel" you wouldn't be using the term vollie. Go blow your smoke somewhere else you fake.
Anonymous said...
Berlin fire company has been an outstanding organization for many years. All this has been caused by one little crybaby and a power hungry town manager. The fire company only became part of the town for benefits of the career ambulance employee's. This entire matter is truely a sad situation for the fire company and has changed the way they will do business forever.
August 21, 2012 6:57 PM
So you are calling work place harassment and a hostile work environment for many years at the Berlin Fire Department outstanding? If I read correctly this was done by the Mayor and Council and not the town manager.
Berlin is just one more Worcester Co clique, and they will do whatever they want. From plastic windows in the historical district to public drunkeness at so called public functions, it never ends.
It's time for Worcester County and Wicomico County to take over both fire and EMS in their counties.
Why did Derrick Simpson resign?
9:57 Happy Union member are you?
. I call BS. Vollies rule. (and I am not an amergency personel, nor have I ever transpired to do so.)
August 21, 2012 7:07 PM
I call BS TOO. On your spelling and incorrect usage of the word transpired.
I tend to agree with the person who said you are a 'vollie'. You are trying to appear smarter than you are, which is typical of volunteers, and others who are lacking in some area of the life.
A paid fire dept. is better than a mixed or totally volunteer dept.
There is more structure and discipline with paid professionals than with local yahoo's who think they are special, hero's, doctor's, and other delusions of grandeur.
They put on their 4-ways flashers and drive 100mph because they think they can. For the volunteers who do it right, I tip my hat to you.
To the others, I say slow down before you kill someone and another station has to be called to clean up YOUR mess.
You sound like bounds and Fitzgerald who have been trying to push that for years. 2 people who def do not need that power!
Since you know his name why wouldn't you ask him instead of bringing it up on a website?
"So you are calling work place harassment and a hostile work environment for many years at the Berlin Fire Department outstanding? If I read correctly this was done by the Mayor and Council and not the town manager.
August 21, 2012 8:29 PM"
What type of harassment and hostile working conditions? Be specific please.
Probably should add Somerset to that list and have one command structure over all three
Because Ocean City made him.
And so the story gets deeper.
In Anne Arundel Couty about a decade ago the jack booted thugs in the county tried to run off the volunteers. Since the volunteers owned the buildings constructed maily with donated funds I dondt think it worked out the way the thugs planned. Looks like a similar situation here or rather a state wide continuation. I appears however that the thugs are now in Berlina nd have stooped to the Chicago/Demacrat type politics of personal destruction. Gee must Go!
I do not think the residents of Berlin should support this until they get answers and what the problems were, spelled out specifically. Do not let the town officials hide behind the "personal issues are confidential" excuse.
Totally one sided, BFD best find some leadership and step up, no defense will kill thier remaining fund drive, then goodnight boy's!
Exactly! The minute the victim stopped doing his job and was called in, he cried "harassment" to save his a**, then the town refused to talk to the BFC, it it's blown up from there.
THE TOWN HAS REFUSED TO PROVIDE THE SPECIFICS TO THE FIRE CO. Ding, Ding, Houston ....... there's the root of the entire problem! How could/can they respond? This is the worst railroading of a great organization that's ever happened. Stay on this Joe, as always the truth will come out.
What sort of harrassment was alleged?
Oh please 3:19 AM!
For years fire departments all over were volunteer with no problems. It wasn't until this generation of entitlement seekers came along and do not want to do anything for free.
And talk about yahoo's! For years the volunteers went about fighting fires with no fan fare and no need to attempt to inflate their importance. Now we see this generation wants monuments to themselves everywhere like the one in OC. You guys are the yahoos!
Then the FD should tell the public their specifics of their side of the story, 8:05.
There is a saying in public relations-
"Tell the Truth, Tell it Early, Tell it All and Tell it Yourself."
If the EMTs are being paid by the Town, they are then Town employees and YES, they should have to abide by the same rules as the rest of the town's employees.
You need to ask yourself, WHY is it the Fire Dept. doesn't want to abide by these simple rules that protect them against lawsuits?
That should be your first question, really.
Are they wanting to be more like Delmar FD? Be their own commodity and not care what anyone thinks unless they're members of the FD?
Take a long hard look at how well that's worked in Delmar. Some very influencial people in Delmar no longer support the FD due to their antics!
For years fire departments all over were volunteer with no problems. August 22, 2012 8:21 AM
Yeah, because they were ALL volunteers and there were no professionals who knew more, got paid for their skill, and taught these hot dogs the correct way to do things.
For years the volunteers went about fighting fires with no fan fare and no need to attempt to inflate their importance.
That is a factually incorrect statement. I have seen and known a few ff's in my time here and I have yet to meet one that is humble.
And if someone chooses to be a firefighter, EMT, or whatever as his/her profession, learns the profession and is highly capable of performing the duties associated with that profession, how do you come up with it's an entitlement to get paid for the skills he/she has acquired?
I know nothing of the memorials of which you speak. But it wouldn't surprise me if it were true. Some THINK they are hero's simply by wearing the uniform. I totally disagree with that.
To me, you have to do something heroic to be considered a hero, outside of their own imagination.
Volunteers provide a vital service to areas that have no professional firemen. But as history has shown, volunteers and paid firemen just cannot co-exist peacefully.
They are jealousies, volunteers feeling they are ENTITLED to do or not to do something because they are not paid to do so.
Station houses should be all volunteer or all paid professionals. The two simply cannot be mixed. (As evidenced by the current drama between the two).
There is immaturity on both parties. The one brings it out of the other.
Someone, or something, needs to take charge and lay out the rules and regs and what is expected of each, and not tolerate any childish actions.
I think the public in general is tired of hearing about the fire companies and their extravagances.
What about all of the discrimination at Hebron FD and Delmar FD??? Actually, I heard that they were changing the name at Hebron to Beach's Place. They run it as their own business (and probably pocket a lot of the money also).
Welcome to 2012, one must act professional and respectful to subordinates and fellow employees. Is that really surprising? Time to wake up........
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