City Budget Focuses Attention on Fire Fighter OT Issue

The long-running dispute between DC fire fighters and the city over overtime (DC Fire Fighters Win OT Ruling 12/16/2014) hit local headlines again this week. The $47 million owed to fire fighters after a 14-year legal battle would “add to a budget gap of $83 million in the current fiscal year that Mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s fledgling administration is already contending with,” reported the Washington Post on Monday. “The reality is that the city has turned a blind eye toward this problem and lost at every level,” said D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D). “There are no options left. It’s time to deal with it.” Said Fire Fighters Local 36 president Ed Smith, “there needs to be more focus on fully staffing the department so there isn't such an impact to the budget going forward.”