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September 28, 2007

More officials decry firefighters' plan to picket

The state's Attorney General has added his voice to the list of state officials objecting to the Providence firefighters' decision to picket, threatening to cancel or drastically scale back a statewide mock disaster drill scheduled for Sunday at the Rhode Island Convention Center.

Patrick Lynch said in an interview, "There is a time and place for everything, and I don't think firefighters should use an important _ if not critically important _ public safety preparedness drill as a bargaining tool.''

He urged the union to find a way to allow the drill to take place as planned and said he had left a message for union president Paul Doughty to that effect.

In interviews this morning, Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts and Gen. Treas. Frank Caprio added their voices.

Roberts, who chairs the state Emergency Management Advisory Council, said she was "shocked" when she read the news about the dispute and the refusal of firefighters from several communities to participate in the terrorism drill.

She said firefighters' "primary responsibility" is to respond to emergencies, something "they do very well.'' She said she was "extremely disappointed'' that an argument over disability benefits - which she acknowledged is an important matter - "is getting in the way of having this important drill.''

Caprio said he wants to see the drill go forward with full participation by everyone who was scheduled to be in it.

"The drill is of utmost importance for our region and I would hope the union and the city administration could work out their differences,'' he said.

Caprio said he'd place a call and pass along his thoughts to Doughty.

Minutes later, Caprio phoned The Providence Journal to say he spoke to Doughty and that the union leader "sounded very hopeful" the situation would be resolved. "I think you're going to to see some news from them sometime this afternoon,'' Caprio said.

Republican Governor Carcieri and Democratic Mayor David Cicilline assailed the firefighters' posture yesterday.

-- Journal staff writer M. Charles Bakst

Posted by Brandie Jefferson  at 1:00 PM | Permalink

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Kenneth Hoskin | September 28, 2007 3:15 PM link

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