A City of Newburgh Fire Department union leader is denouncing what he described as a new structure for the impending layoffs of first responders on Dec. 31, but City Manager Joe Donat contends this method is the fair and right way to do business.
The 2020 city budget calls for 14 firefighters to lose their jobs at the end of the year. Brendan Hogan, president of the city's fire union, said they were delivered layoff lists the day after Thanksgiving.
Instead of having one list that ranks all firefighters by seniority, Hogan said he was given two lists of who would be laid off: one with firefighters who took the Spanish-speaking fire service exam and another list with those who didn't take the test.
Firefighter Max Carrero, a fluent Spanish-speaking city resident who has worked at the NFD since 2014, is on the Spanish-speaking list of layoffs, but Hogan said if all firefighters were ranked only by seniority, Carrero's job would be safe.