The Anne Arundel County Professional Firefighters today donated $10,000 to the Susan G. Koman Foundation in support of our efforts to fight breast cancer. Members of Local 1563 came up with the idea for the shirt, got approval to wear the shirts as our uniforms for the month of October, and purchased the shirts at our own expense. Members also sold merchandise outside the department and a website was set up that reached all over the country.
Updated
On: Nov 21, 2011 (16:44:00)
November 21, 2011
Honorable Gentlemen of the Council:
Hello! My name is Keith Whalen (VP of AACo Professional Firefighters) and I had the privilege of speaking to you 2 weeks ago during the open forum on items not on the agenda. I spoke to you about a plan underway to eliminate 80-100 uniformed Firefighter positions Read More...
VP K. Whalen Puts County Council On Notice Over Staffing Issues
Gentlemen! Hello my name is Keith Whalen and I am the Vice President of the Anne Arundel County Professional Firefighters. I want to make you aware of a movement that is underway to eliminate over 20% of the Fire Dept. work force. The Fire Dept currently has around 60+ vacant firefighter positions and there is deliberately a plan in motion to cut 80-100 firefighters from the budget. We have been made aware of this plan by the Fire Chief, Personnel and the County Executive’s office both directly and indirectly. The plan is to eliminate these positions and make our current firefighters work more hours to cover this deficit and do more with less. We currently are getting paid OT to cover these shortages. OT that is costing the citizens millions. We have asked for 8+ months to hire a class to cover these vacancies and it falls on deaf ears. Our work schedule is a negotiated item but it has been made clear that the Fire Dept. is positioning themselves to be at catastrophic staffing levels forcing a change in shift to simply meet the demands of the citizens.
The basic fabric of our fire department is being ripped away everyday with low morale, encouragement to seek employment elsewhere, and a workplace that has been created where folks simply do not feel appreciated. We realize there have been tough economic times. Please do not let the fire department continue to be degraded and personnel beaten down as these plans march forward. As you all know, the firefighters have voluntarily given back to help ease the financial crisis over the past 3 years. We currently work more then most folks as we work an average of 42hrs per week. The citizens of this county deserve nothing but the best in Fire and EMS services and we pride ourselves in delivering that. Using taxpayer dollars, we have hired and trained hundreds of professional firefighters only to have them go elsewhere for long term employment, join the private sector, or simply retire earlier then expected due to the deplorable morale of our department.
In closing, I ask you to please take a long hard look at our department and encourage the decision makers to hire personnel to fill the vacant positions and moreover do not let this plan be carried out. Thank you for your time.
Members of Local 1563 and their families came out to Jones Station Company 23's Open House on November 5, 2011 to showcase their efforts from the month of October and to sell remaining Breast Cancer Awareness t-shirts. Proceeds from the shirts are to be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The donation is expected to be announced later this month once sales have been completed. Members designed the shirts and obtained approval to wear the pink lettered shirts featuring the trademark pink ribbon as their uniform in support of breast cancer for the month of October. The shirts worn were purchased at the expense of the members.
On September 24th, 2011, members of the Burn Foundation and Anne Arundel County Professional Firefighters were on hand to welcome campers and counselors of the International Burn Camp to BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport. Members of Local 1563, and in some cases their family members, gave up their Saturday to greet attendees at the 16th annual International Burn Camp. The Burn Camp, sponsored by the IAFF Burn Foundation, brings more than 40 burn survivors from across North America along with a firefighter from their region to the Washington, DC area.
This years camp was held in our own backyard at Camp Wabanna in Edgewater, MD. With the help of other agencies including BWI Fire Department, and Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, the campers and their accompanying firefighters were greeted at their arrival gates, and after a reception at BWI's fire station, were escorted to the camp. Members also assisted in some of the weekly activities of the camp, including a special carnival with activities run by the many volunteers.
