The resort’s firefighter union is gearing up to start its new shift-schedule next week, finally moving off the longstanding shifts of 24 hours on-duty, followed by 72 hours off-duty.
Starting on Oct. 2, firefighters and paramedics will be assigned to 10-hour day and 14-hour night shifts, on a two-day rotation. That means employees will work two dayshifts, followed by two nightshifts, with four days off. Dayshift workers will report at 7 a.m. and nightshifts will start at 5 p.m.
The schedule is designed for a 45-hour work week, and the city will pay premium overtime for hours worked over the allotted time, according to the Fire Department shift implementation report.
“Anytime there’s change, you have to measure it, for better or worse, and that’s what we’ll do moving forward,” Fire Union President Ryan Whittington said.
The shift schedule was the focus of a yearlong impasse between the Town of Ocean City and Chapter 4269 of the International Association of Fire Fighters during labor negotiations, last year.
The mayor and City Council originally wanted to change the schedule to 12-hour shifts, but a compromise was reached on the 10/14 shift-schedule in March. A three-year contract was signed shortly after.
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7 comments:
Beats me why anyone would want to work for free while standing next to a (unionized) paid employee of Ocean City. This is a slap in the face to volunteers.
call 911 in west oc, and see how long it takes them to show up. after they get their free meal.
That is horrible. Why would they alternate day and night shift within the same week. I would much rather work the 24 hour shifts than have to alternate sleeping day and night twice a week.
Hopefully they are not allowed to sleep at night now either. Quicker response times.
Why not 4 day shifts or 4 night shifts? 12 hour ones so all get the same hours. Going from day to night can't be good for the body or mind.
I want healthy, alert people coming to my rescue.
A bunch of former real estate reps govern Ocean City. Does anyone think they know more about fire department coverage than they do about managing taxpayer revenue?
Why do they even care how many hours firemen work?
Aw... Listen to all these crybabies.
Same thing should happen to the paid Farmin in Salisbury. They don't deserve sleeping ever single night of the week. Put them on 10's and 14's.
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