The city of Cohoes and the firefighters union are working to come to an agreement, as the city is facing a massive financial crisis due to COVID-19.
Mayor Bill Keeler says the city, Fire Chief Joseph Fahd, and the executive board of the firefighters’ union discussed Tuesday how to safely save more than $100,000 in overtime costs in the fire department.
Keeler says Cohoes is facing a revenue loss expected to hit more than $1 million this year, because of the pandemic.
This comes after a tweet sent out by the Cohoes FD depicted a staffing shortage over the weekend, saying there were only four members on duty and a large number of calls coming in at the same time. The tweet also said a reduction of staff would result in longer response times and impact safety.
City officials, however, say there are usually seven or eight people on duty, and they are not looking at any furloughs or cuts to staffing. Instead, they are looking at ways to save money through overtime.