The firefighter and EMT union president in Washington D.C. is disputing recent claims by the East Chicago city administration as it justified controversial new shifts for city firefighters.
Mayor Anthony Copeland and Fire Chief Anthony Serna recently told The Times the firefighters shifts were being changed to save taxpayer dollars, a move they claimed was successful in Washington, D.C.
But Dabney Scott Hudson, president of the District of Columbia FireFighters Association, told The Times on Saturday those claims were incorrect. “Our case went to arbitration, and we prevailed in the arbitration case, keeping our 24-hour shift. In the arbitration, the city testified that the change would in fact increase costs to the city. Additionally, the health and safety, as well as cognitive function of the workers significantly, decrease working rotating shifts such as the ones they are proposing,” Hudson said in a statement.