Winston-Salem firefighters voice concerns over changes to overtime policies

Winston-Salem firefighters packed Monday night’s City Council meeting to voice concerns about recent changes to overtime policies, warning that reductions in daily staffing levels could jeopardize public safety.

In February, the city lowered the minimum number of firefighters on duty each day from 89 to 79. The decision, which was aimed at preventing the fire department from exceeding its overtime budget, has drawn criticism from Winston-Salem's firefighter union.  

So many members attended Monday's meeting that some had to be moved to an overflow room to avoid violating fire code regulations. Among them was Ashton "Perry" Parrinello, president of the union, who voiced concerns about how the change could affect operations. 

“What it inhibits is our efficiency on the fire ground and on medical calls,” Parrinello said. “If you don’t have as many firefighters on the scene, we can’t do our jobs as quickly.”

City Manager Pat Pate defended the move, saying no jobs were terminated as a result of it. And he said that the department was on track to overspend its overtime budget even after an increase last year. 

“They were on a path that they would run out,” Pate said. “And so they basically changed the way they are allocating or they're calling back people in for overtime to make sure that we can keep all of our stations staffed throughout the remainder of the year.”

Parrinello said that the overtime was necessary due to recruitment and retention issues within the department. Pate disputed this though, saying that the department is fully staffed and that 24 new recruits had just started work.

The policy change is set to expire on July 1.