The Department Attacks Your Rights

Paragraph 2.3 of the Order (copy attached) essentially states that members who are "witnesses" rather than "suspects" in a Safety Battalion investigation of an accident or fire are not entitled to either Union or legal representation. It states that our members must agree to cooperate and be interviewed by Safety Chiefs without representation or face disciplinary action.

It also makes clear, as we have warned our members in the past,that the Department considers every chauffeur and officer involved in a rig accident as a "suspect" in their investigation.

For many, many years the UFA has provided representation to members being interviewed by the Safety Battalion. Wherever possible, we have had an Executive Board member and our attorneys participate to make sure a member's rights are not violated. We have cooperated with the Safety Battalion and have never attempted to prevent the Safety Chiefs from doing their job. We have tried very hard to assist them in promptly scheduling the interviews and have urged our members to provide whatever information they can to assist Safety's efforts. Indeed, our board members and attorneys have not only been available during business hours, but on weekends and nights if necessary.

Nevertheless, the Department Order misleadingly claims that at "several" recent incidents, members who were "witnesses" declined to answer questions "citing their desire to speak with union and/or legal representation." The Order fails to point out however, that the firefighters merely wanted to make sure of their rights and wanted the security of union/legal representation so they didn't inappropriately become the target of any criticism or charges. In these cases, the Safety interviews proceeded smoothly and without undue delay.

Our concern for the rights of our members was also justified by the actions of the FDNY and City shortly after the Deutsche Bank fire. At that time, several of our members were asked to appear at the District Attorney's Office for questioning.

The FDNY attempted to have the members first report to the City's lawyers, the Office of the Corporation Counsel, who would "represent" them at the District Attorney's Office. (See attached N.Y. Times article)

Seeing an obvious conflict of interest if the City's attorneys represented our members, the UFA stepped in and provided union counsel for them. This enabled the members to tell the truth without any possible pressure put upon them to protect the City from civil or criminal liability. Thus, our experience with the City has taught us to vigilantly protect the rights of our firefighters.

You should also be aware that the Department Order was preceded by a letter from Deputy Commissioner Shacknai to our attorneys dated June 11, 2008 (copy attached) stating that the Department will "continue to enforce" certain sections of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, which, the Department claims, compels "witnesses" to be interviewed without union or legal representation. In fact, the policy between the Department and the UFA over the past many years has been to permit union/legal representation at these interviews. Furthermore, Sections 7 and 8 of the Contract have nothing to do with Safety interviews.

If the Department, in good faith, had issues regarding Safety interviews of firefighters, it could have and should have raised these issue at our periodic Labor/Management meetings. The issues then would have been the subject of meaningful discussion. This behavior is typical of the Scoppetta administration.

As noted above, the Department Order also states the Department's position that the chauffeur and officer involved in any rig accident are considered "suspects" by the Department. We have repeatedly warned our members about this Departmental stance. We again emphasize that every chauffeur should fully obey the Regulations governing operation of an apparatus, should fully obey all applicable traffic laws and should never talk to Department investigators (including Safety) without proper union/legal representation.

With regard to members who are "witnesses," if you are questioned and not given the opportunity to have a UFA board member or attorney present, please make sure you note in writing that you have asked for such representation but that the Department has refused to permit it.

We will continue to work to have this ill-conceived Department Order rescinded and we will never stop trying to protect your rights whenever they are threatened.

Fraternally,

Stephen J. Cassidy
President

Joseph A. Miccio
Recording Secretary