The battle of Ogdensburg rages on.
City officials went to court Thursday, in an effort to block the firefighters union from using one of the tools the union has - arbitration.
With the city cutting the size of the fire department down to 20 people, below what the city’s contract with firefighters requires, the firefighters union is demanding arbitration.
The union says the city has violated the “entire” contract. The union wants an arbitrator to order the city to “restore manpower levels” and pay firefighters extra for every shift they work below the minimum staffing in the contract.
In legal papers submitted to state Supreme Court, city officials argue the union’s complaints are not subject to arbitration. The city claims, essentially, that the firefighters contract does not provide blanket protection against job cuts, and that even if the contract is interpreted as having job security protections for the firefighters, those protections are “not enforceable or arbitrable.”