Firefighters Sue City Over Planned Budget Cuts

del.icio.us Philadelphia firefighters have sued the city in an effort to prevent what they call dangerous spending cuts in the fire department.

The firefighters union filed separate lawsuits in Common Pleas Court and the state Supreme Court on Tuesday, a day after about 1,500 people marched to City Hall to object to the cuts.

"The Mayor's dangerous proposal has left us no other choice," said IAFF Local 22 President Brian McBride, a 33-year-old veteran of the Fire Department. "Lives are at stake. Unless we do something to slow this thing down, we're convinced that people will die. As firefighters, we are sworn to protect lives, and by taking our battle to the court, that is exactly what our Union is doing."

Philadelphia officials are facing a huge budget deficit. They expect to save more than $10 million a year by deactivating five engine companies and two ladder companies.

Video: Mayor Nutter Talks City's Ongoing Budget Battle

No stations would be closed and no firefighters would be laid off, but nearly 150 firefighters could be reassigned.

On December 3, the Union filed a grievance charging that the fire-company eliminations unreasonably threaten the safety of firefighters and citizens, and therefore violate a 2005 contract provision that permits the firefighters to take safety issues to arbitration. In its filing, the Union asks the Philadelphia court to keep the fire-companies open until that arbitration has been completed.

"We are certain that the company closures not only violate our contract, they are based on a faulty in-house study that fails to meet federal safety standards for adequate response times. We don't want lives unnecessarily put at risk while we make our case to the arbitrator. We see this as a clear case of 'better safe than sorry,'" said McBride.

City Solicitor Shelley Smith responded to the lawsuits by saying that firefighters have already "lost the issue" because the city has the right to close fire companies.