Rule FDNY Can't Force Officers To Train on Days Off

ALAN VIANI: Puts limit on training.

An arbitrator has ordered the Fire Department to cease requiring fire officers to attend training sessions and perform other "non-emergent duties" on days they are not slated to work.

In August, arbitrator Alan Viani had referred the matter back to the Uniformed Fire Officers Association and the FDNY to resolve the dispute over the mandatory assignments, but the union told him on Feb. 2 that no resolution had been reached and asked him to make a final award.

Objected Despite Getting OT

UFOA President John J. McDonnell explained that in 2002 he received member complaints that officers were being forced to attend training on their days off, although they were being paid overtime. By 2004, he said, the membership had showed significant opposition to the requirements, and the union filed a grievance in 2005.

Mr. Viani noted that the department could require officers to perform specific tasks outside their work schedules outlined in a memorandum of agreement signed between the union and the department in 2006.

Mr. McDonnell said that Mr. Viani's award was a welcome victory for the union.

"They don't happen often," he said.