Michigan firefighters call on lawmakers to pass bill that would improve staffing
(CBS DETROIT) — Firefighters in Michigan haven't been able to negotiate staffing levels for nearly 30 years, but they're hoping to change that in these final days of the legislative session.
House Bill 4688 would allow fire departments to negotiate staffing levels here in Michigan. Right now, the Michigan Professional Firefighters Union says Michigan has far fewer firefighters per number of residents than neighboring states like Ohio.
"When we don't have enough people it not only is it fatigue on the firefighters, the risk of injury but also mental health. People are getting hurt, and not only our people are getting hurt but our residents," said union president Matthew Sahr. "When we're carrying someone if we don't have enough people to carry them, say even on a simple EMS run, we could drop a patient causing further injury when it doesn't need to happen."
The bill is opposed by groups like the Michigan Municipal League.
"We obviously want safe staffing levels whether it's police, fire, corrections officers, the main concern is that it's simply going to punish municipalities for circumstances that are well outside of their control," said Dave Hodgkins, a legislative assistant with the Michigan Municipal League.
The union says the bill was introduced nearly six months ago, but it hasn't seen much progress since. That slowdown is particularly frustrating for firefighter Joe Duay, who said the power to negotiate is at stake here.
"Let's talk about it. Let's see what's safe. Let's see what money is there," Duay said.