Top Fire Department brass retaliated against two emergency medical services lieutenants due to their “union activity,” a labor board ruled, the Daily News has learned.
FDNY Lt. Douglas Rondon was “totally restricted” from duty for an entire year after he reached out to his union president for assistance on potential disciplinary charges. At the same time, the union was upset with the FDNY over the department’s new Paramedic Response Unit, which pairs a paramedic with a paramedic lieutenant.
The so-called “Fly-Car” pilot program, first launched in the Bronx in 2016, uses FDNY SUVs with advanced-life-support equipment. It is designed to increase response times to emergency scenes.
But those vehicles are not used to transport patients – and requires staff to put in added work.
Uniform EMS Officers Local 3621 slammed the program, arguing that it should be stopped until details of the work shifts could be negotiated with the labor group.