Negotiations Fall Apart, 911 Dispatchers Still Planning To Strike Next Weekend
By: KDKA-TV News Staff
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Negotiations to avert a strike by Allegheny County's 911 dispatchers went nowhere on Friday.
The union says they are preparing to strike next Saturday -- the day of Pittsburgh's St. Patrick's Day Parade.
The union representative, Al Smith, says that dispatchers are understaffed and overworked.
It says they are short 44 employees, and those who are still on the job are forced to work mandatory overtime of 12 to 16 hour days.
"When you have folks that are working in stress like that, you're calling folks, they're doing the best job they can but can you imagine answering their phone after working 16 hours and trying to direct somebody to do the right thing?" Smith said. "You hope that you could do it. But there's always that possibility that something will happen. And when it happens, you're not going to blame the caller. They're going to blame the dispatcher."
There will be another round of negotiations between the county and the union on Thursday.