By Sarah Schillaci
Herald News
CLIFTON, NJ — About 60 firefighters handed out 7,000 fliers Monday protesting the city’s proposal to close a fire station next month.
The closing of Fire Station 2 on Dumont Avenue, which was authorized Friday, will result in the layoffs of 16 firefighters and one staff member, said Robert DeLuca, president of the Clifton Firemen’s Mutual Benevolence Association.
“It is going to jeopardize the safety of the residents,” DeLuca said. He also said that the closure of a local firehouse could negatively affect homeowners’ fire insurance. Closing the fire station will leave the city with five.
The flier urged residents to show up at tonight’s council meeting in support of the city’s firefighters.
The proposed layoffs are part of a citywide layoff plan adopted in December that would save the city about $4 million annually. Under the plan, 60 people will be laid off, including the 17 fire department employees.
Clifton would save about $600,000 from the 2009 budget by laying off the firefighters. According to the flier, the firefighters’ union suggested salary deferrals and contractual concessions that would remove $600,000 from the budget.
“To date, the city has said thanks for your creative thinking, but no thanks,” the flier reads.
Councilman Frank Fusco said the potential closure would take effect on March 6 if city officials and the unions cannot come to the bargaining table.
“We need it but we can’t staff it,” he said. “Seventeen fire personnel basically constitute one of the firehouses.”
Fusco said, however, that there are alternatives to closing the firehouse that will also be discussed. City officials may decide to take one piece of equipment out of service, or alternatively, make changes to the ambulance service, he said.
The city had been requesting that employees belonging to the several unions in Clifton agree to work in 2009 at the rate of their 2008 salaries, deferring any raises. Earlier this month, the city council agreed to give up 4 percent of their salaries in an effort to ease the financial crunch.
But DeLuca said the proposed layoffs had implications beyond finances.
“I have to be concerned with the safety of my men,” DeLuca said. “I think, by laying off 17 people, it kind of puts a difficulty in doing that.”