Fire Lines
NO. 2 2011
The Zadroga Bill On the federal level, then Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton worked closely with the UFA to push Congress to fund Federal legislation intended to provide health monitoring and financial aid to sick 9/11 responders. Every year Congress had to be lobbied for money so that the 9/11 monitoring and health care program could continue. Finally, after years of sustained and continued lobbying, on January 2, 2011, President Obama signed into law the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010. This legislation provides ongoing funding for health screening and treatment for firefighters who responded to the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It also re-opens the Victim’s Compensation Fund for firefighters that have suffered illness and for families of firefighters that have succumbed to those illnesses. The infrastructure necessary to administer the new Victim Compensation Fund created by the Zadroga Bill is currently being assembled by Special Master Sheila Birnbaum. I have met with Ms. Birnbaum and was impressed with her sincerity and desire to be fair to all firefighters. The problem is there is not enough money to fairly compensate the victims and their families with the current funding. Some are hopeful that additional resources can be procured from Congress, however, given the present fiscal climate, it will be difficult. It is expected that the new Fund will begin accepting claims in October, 2011. The Executive Board is very disappointed by the recent announcement that a government study failed to establish a link between WTC exposure and the high incidence of cancers being suffered by UFA active and retired members. Specifically, Dr. John Howard, who runs the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, stated in his report that “insufficient evidence exists at this time to propose a rule to add cancer” to the list of illnesses linked to 9/11 responders. However, at the time of this report, which he was mandated to file by Congress, no data was available linking the cause of cancer to the effect of being exposed to the toxins at the WTC site. Firefighters were exposed to a wide range of toxic and carcinogenic substances at the WTC site. In fact, there are now 33 firefighter deaths that have been certified by the New York City Fire Department Pension Board as 9/11-related. Fortunately, Dr.
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Howard is required to review all the evidence next year and reassess or reaffirm his decision. In the coming months, the Fire Department Medical Doctors, led by Drs. David Prezant and Kerry Kelly, have now completed the first cancer study where they have examined cancers occurring within the first seven years post-9/11 in a population of 10,000 firefighters. The study will be published in the leading medical journal The Lancet. Once published, we are certain that the scientific nexus between working at the WTC site and cancer will be established for our members. After the release of the new statistics, we will make every effort possible to ensure that cancer is covered for firefighters. The entire UFA Executive Board and I will continue to work to ensure that the many firefighters, who have become seriously ill, or succumbed to WTCrelated diseases, receive the compensation and medical monitoring they deserve. Roster Staffing Litigation On July 1, 2011, the Board of Collective Bargaining issued its Interim Decision and Order, dated June 29, 2011, in the joint UFA/UFOA Improper Practice/Scope of Bargaining Petitions in the roster staffing case. As you know, the UFA and UFOA filed a joint petition, on January 31, 2011, alleging that the City’s elimination of the fifth firefighter in the 60 Engine companies as set forth in the Roster Staffing Agreement violated the requirement to negotiate, as well as created a negative safety impact. In its Interim decision, the Board dismissed the unions’ allegations of a violation of the duty to negotiate, but found that the unions had set forth sufficient facts to warrant a hearing to determine whether the reduction in staffing levels, has had a practical impact on safety for both of the unions’ members. With regard to the future safety impact hearings, the Board of Collective Bargaining has designated Theodore J. St. Antoine, Professor Emeritus of Law from the University of Michigan School of Law, to act as Trial Examiner and preside over these hearings. At present, the UFA and UFOA are formulating their information/discovery request and will be serving it upon the City by August 26, 2011. The City will then have until October 10, 2011 to respond to our information/discovery request. Based upon the scheduling of
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