As reported by trentonian.com, Trenton firefighters are bracing for a major shake-up and legal battle as the State of New Jersey encourages Mayor Tony Mack’s administration to institute a restructuring plan that fire department insiders say violates the firefighters’ contracts and may force unions to go on the offensive.

The plan calls for the creation of a rank the Trenton Fire Department (“TFD”) never had before, lieutenant, bringing back the rank of deputy chief, which the TFD had before it was eliminated to make way for a director position, and eliminating the rank of captain. Currently, the TFD has three ranks, firefighter, captain, and battalion chief, and a director. The restructuring plan calls for the ranks of firefighter, lieutenant, battalion chief, deputy chief and a director. All but a few captains, who will be promoted to battalion chief, will have their titles changed to lieutenant and will receive up to a 15 percent pay decrease. 

The Mack administration is referring to the change of title as a “demotion,” but the firefighters don’t see it that way. “It is not a demotion because with a demotion they wouldn’t be able to change your pay,” a firefighter who requested anonymity said. 

Creating a new rank would also mean creating a new pay scale for that rank. Per contract, salaries are “mandatory negotiable,” meaning the Mack administration would have to negotiate the salary with firefighter unions and that the unions have a say in the pay scale dimensions, the Mack administration cannot arbitrarily impose a pay scale.

Or can they? That’s the question a judge may have to answer in the near future. According to TFD sources, Mack is not honoring a contractual stipulation that 45-day notice be given to firefighters who face layoff, demotion or any other major change in their public employment.

Last year, firefighter Union 206 offered a concession to Trenton that no union in this history of New Jersey has ever offered a municipality. They offered “straight-time overtime,” meaning that firefighters would be paid their regular hourly wage no matter how many hours they work. The union says that could have saved the City of Trenton $2.5 million since the time that it was turned down last year. In a recent memo distributed by Fire Director Qareeb Bashir, the City is now asking the union for another shot at that concession, on top of restructuring.

The plan is being instituted at the behest of former Irvington fire chief, Donald Hubert, who has become the state’s point-man on municipal fire companies. Union members said they would be fine with the straight-time overtime concession, but not the 15 percent pay decrease and rank restructuring the plan entails, which means the issue could likely end up in a courtroom.

Tags: Articles, Demotion, Elimination of Rank, Mack, NJ Firefighters, restructuring, Trenton
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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.

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