In July of 2006, the Rumford Fire Department was facing cuts. The town had proposed reducing the Fire Department from 13 firefighters to 7. To the men of the fire station, this was something they couldn’t afford to do. At the time, Richard Coulombe, then president of the firefighters union, proposed that firefighters unselfishly take a cut in pay as well as pay increased costs for their health insurance, saving the town about $90,000 over the life of the contract. Why would they do that? They wanted to maintain the level of service they were providing to the town, for their own safety and the safety of the community. It was an extremely unselfish act.
What did the Firefighters get for their trouble? It wasn’t a thank you. It was continued reduction to their ranks including the loss of 5 firefighters with this latest budget cut. They also got a suspension for advocating for keeping the level of service.
The Firemen deserve to be able to advocate for their own safety and for the safety of the town. They know, better than anyone, what they need to keep people safe. They were even willing to take a cut in pay to provide it.
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I would just like to comment briefly on this article. The savings that can be accounted for are as follows, (Year 1) 29125.24 (year 2) 36431.67 (year3) 37275.57 for a total 3 year savings of $102832.48. The unaccounted savings involved here are the different insurance plan. We had Plan A and went down to Plan C, we are unsure of the total savings on that.
When we signed this contract we where happy with what we negotiated to get all 4 on shift out on the street. Well as you are aware that is all out the window now, we do not have the 4 guys out on the street, we don’t even have the 4 guys per shift anymore. We did what we though was best for the town and where willing to take the hit to do this. One of the sticking points on this was our fire alarms system that rings into the station. So we waited patiently to get the hardware in place to make it go to Oxford county Dispatch and that would free up the 4th person. Well once the hardware was in place( 2 years later) we were advised that we would be running at a minimal manning of 3 per shift. So that meant to us that when we had a man out we would go down to 3 men per shift. This was told to us it would not be a constant to have only 3 men per shift. Well here we are today at 3 shifts of 3. No 4th guy in sight, so the effort we put forth to keep the level of service, or better at no additional cost to the taxpayer has now blown up in our face.
Mark Tripp
The people had a choice, and they chose the lower budget. Times are tough for those of us who make less than $15.00 per hour. The union members should have known better than to violate the rules by politicking. The funny thing is that your speeches, comments and signs hurt your case. The attitude of entitlement (some say arrogance) didn't help you either. For years the unions appear to have had the opinion that they ran our town departments, but now you know you don't. The PEOPLE run this town, and you had better get used to it.
No one in the FD makes 15.00 an hr.
The Firemen were willing to TAKE A CUT IN PAY to try to maintain the level of service for their safety and the safety of the town. That doesn't strike us as an attitude of entitlement; it strikes us as an attitude of concern for our town and the people in it.
Your post smacks of arrogance and callousness towards this group of professionals that has shown themselves to be quite altruistic.
Mr. Tripp, I negotiated contracts for many years (I’m retired now). One of the things I learned early on was not to relinquish anything that had been gained through good faith bargaining. What happened to the Rumford Fire Department is a classic example of what happens when you do. Your hearts were in the right place. Your intentions were admirable. You made concessions and the town turned its collective back on you…"Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice Shame on me."
Whan they took the cut in pay, our economy was different. Now we have a weaker national economy, the mill is paying less in taxes, and we are facing big expenses due to two decades of neglect to our buildings and infastructure. As the economy changes more cuts need to be made because no work has been done by the town to build our tax base.
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