SAUGATUCK TWP. Firefighters with the Saugatuck Township Fire District voted to form a union last year and are in the process of finalizing a collective-bargaining agreement with the Saugatuck Township Fire District Board and Fire Chief Greg Janik.
According to union president Capt. Mike Betts, the decision to unionize did not come from firefighters dissatisfaction with their pay or their employer.
Instead, Betts said, they primarily wanted to become an active part of the state and international firefighters unions, which provide resources and political advocacy on behalf of firefighters.
They also wanted to protect themselves, their benefits for the future, and to encourage retention of career firefighters in the department.
Letters to the Editor Thursday, Dec. 17 | The Daily Gazette
SECTIONS
I have questioned my timing related to pushing for backyard hens in the city of Schenectady.
When you consider everything that’s occurring right now, it’s not a priority, but ironically has shown itself to be a cultural litmus test which I believe we failed.
Our community discussion on backyard chickens has led to phrases like “cultural slaughter” in my email box and fear mongering like the tale of goat’s blood running down the street.
A Schenectady fable that has taken on a life of its own in the last 15 years since the city council banned residents from keeping poultry and other livestock at their homes after “a man complained his children witnessed their Guyanese neighbors kill a goat,” Paul Nelson wrote in the July 2, 2010, Times Union.