CK Fire and Rescue must respond to allegations, state says

April 22--SILVERDALE -- The state is requesting Central Kitsap Fire and Rescue respond to an unfair labor complaint filed by its firefighter union last month.

The Public Employment Relations Commission said "it appears that an unfair labor practice violation could be found" in a recent preliminary ruling. The agency has 21 days to respond.

The union complaint claims CKFR violated employee rights, discriminated against employees and ignored bargaining rights by decreasing the minimum number of firefighters needed per shift and creating new positions, which reduced opportunities for overtime.

Union officials did not respond for comment, but Fire Chief Scott said in an emailed statement that CKFR "continues to remain focused on the most critical issue facing our district at this time -- our pending economic situation."

Last fall, the agency argued that reducing minimum staffing would help it manage its growing debt and expenses, which included nearly $900,000 in overtime in 2013. It had planned to spend about $709,000 in overtime that year.

Union officials said CKFR also is required to negotiate with them when creating new job positions. The complaint lists two jobs that were created in the face of agency's budget challenges without bargaining with the union -- an administrative lieutenant position and an information technology manager.

Union officials also contend that CKFR's decision to reduce minimum staffing numbers, which causes the fire district's Chico station to go without staff when too many personnel call in sick or are on vacation, has resulted in conditions that affect workload, safety and working conditions.

The union called for an in-depth analysis on reducing the minimum number of firefighters per shift, including what impacts it could have on firefighters and the community, because of response times, but that information -- if it exists -- has not been released to the union, according to union President Craig Becker.

The union complaint also protested the punishment of two employees, Ronny Smith and Justin Brown, over what CKFR contended was protected patient information. Brown, a district paramedic, wrote a report on two Chico area medical calls and provided it to Smith, firefighter and union vice president, who then submitted to print publications and Kitsap Fire Watch, an online group of union firefighters and community members.

The letter, part of a "minutes matter" campaign, included specific efforts paramedics undertook to stabilize a patient in cardiac arrest and also mentioned another "critical call" crews responded to the next morning involving "an elderly male experiencing respiratory failure."

The letter mentioned a day, time and general location of the calls, but did not include names or specific addresses.

Early reports indicated that both patients survived, and the letter questions whether the outcome would have been the same if career staffers had not been at the Chico station.

Copyright 2014 - Kitsap Sun, Bremerton, Wash.