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Funds are not now available
either to shorten Atlanta fire-
men’s workweck or raise their
pay, the alderrnanic finance
committee decided Friday.
The action came after some
400 firemen, their wives and
supporters had overflowed the
aldermanic chambers at a pub-
lic hearing. They asked that the
fire department's workweek be
cut to 56 hours from the present
69 hours and that time and a
half be paid for all hours over
40.
The finance committee took
up the requests in executive
session and wound up deciding
that neither could be granted
immediately without raising
Aldermen Refuse Firemen
Shorter Hours, HL
By MARION GAINES
taxes or the cily’s finding some
new source of revenue.
The aldermen made two con-
cessions, however, by adopting
resolutions promising that:
(1) Time and a half will
henceforth be paid for fireman
called back to duty in emer-
gency situations after complet-
ing their regular 60-hour week.
It was estimated this will cost
only some $5,000 to $10,600 a
year.
(2) The 56-hour week for fire-
men will be given “The first
consideration” in drawing up
next year’s city budget over
any requests for across-ihe-
I chy P
mee /79 yey
board i raises in any de-
partments.
All members of the finance
committee stressed that they
were in sympathy with the fire-
men’s objectives. But all
agreed, too, with Ald. Charlie)
Leftwich that the current city |
budget “is as tight as it’s ever
been.”
Comptroller Charles Davis
' told the committee that imple--
| menting the 56-hour week would
require about 72 additional fire-
men at an annual cost (based
. top pay scale) of some
Request for
” paying time and a half over
Continued on Page 5, Column 1
Firemen Lose
Fewer Hours
Continued From Page 1
40 hours for a 56-hour week
would cost about $704,618 a year
and for a 60-hour week about
$810,831 a year, Davis said.
At the public hearing, Capt. J.
C. Whitley told the aldermen
thal the city was practicing
“false economy” to train young
men as firefighters and then
Jose them a short time later to
jobs with shorter hours and)
weekends and holidays off.
Sgt. J. D. Garrett pleaded for
implementation of the firemen’s
requests, declaring: ‘“‘We can't
strike against you; all we can
do is quit and look for some-’
thing else.”
Longtime Atlanta business-
man Sam Rothberg urged the
aldermen to give the firemen a
wage “that is just, fair and
right” even if it meant increas-
ing taxes. ,
Insuranceman M. M. (Mug-
gsy) Smith said an important
factor is “the life hazard—when
these men answer a fire call,
they never know if they'll come
4