Firefighters Union Sues City Council Speaker Over Disability Benefits
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The union representing New York City firefighters is suing City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, claiming she is stonewalling its efforts to improve disability benefits for some firefighters.
Uniformed Firefighters Association President Stephen Cassidy is pushing for legislation that would boost disability pensions for firefighters hired after 2009, WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported.
"The speaker of the council has denied firefighters their rights to have a hearing on an issue that we believe is important to them," Cassidy told Haskell.
Firefighters Union Sues City Council Speaker Over Disability Benefits
"If the speaker thinks it's OK for newly hired firefighters to run into burning buildings and risk their lives for $27 a day, we think she's wrong," the union president added.
Cassidy said he has requested material under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) but has been denied.
"It's outrageous, and it's complete lack of transparency," he said.
The City Council issued a statement to WCBS 880 saying: "Last year, the council passed widely praised rules reforms which have made the body more open and transparent than it has ever been and this is just part of the administrative proceedings for FOIL requests. We take FOIL very seriously and are confident the determinations made were correct in the letter and the spirit of the law."
