IG Confirms Critical Staffing Shortages at DC Fire Dept
Friday, January 3, 2014(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
A report released last month by the
DC Office of theInspector General confirmed what Fire Fighters Local 36 has
been saying all along. “We are severely understaffed, even though fully
funded,” Local 36 said, “and those shortages have driven the department to
a
critical breaking point.” Local 36 continues to stress the points reiterated
in
the IG report: “Public safety agencies need (to be fully staffed with)
properly
trained personnel, who are fairly compensated, properly equipped, and o operate
effectively during times of crisis, no matter how large or how small; and those
same agencies should not be used as a pulpit for political or social
agendas.”
Local 36 urged the DC City Council and residents “to read the report, consider
the probable outcomes, and act quickly and appropriately.”