The local firefighters union will attempt today to keep the city from using two new recruits as active duty firefighters over the next two months.

Auburn Professional Fire Fighters Local 1446 is asking a Cayuga County judge to issue an injunction preventing the city from using the new hires to count toward the department's 15-person minimum requirement. But city officials said Tuesday the recruits have enough training, and the city will save thousands of dollars in overtime if they work.

According to court documents filed Monday, the department recently hired two new firefighters, Brandon Harvard and Dan Guzalak. They started training March 3 at the state fire academy in Montour Falls, and the training is scheduled to last through June 2.

Harvard and Guzalak are scheduled to work Wednesday through Friday, April 28 through May 1 and May 27-29 as part of the 15-person staffing minimum, according to court documents. Union representatives claim the scheduling is “in blatant violation” of the firefighters' collective bargaining agreement with the city.

The agreement prohibits the city from requiring employees to work outside of their civil service classification and calls for the city to take past practice at the department into consideration before changing policies, according to a petition filed by the union.

In a sworn affidavit, union president Steve Parker states that having a recruit without “live fire” training work as a line firefighter is “tantamount” to having them work beyond their classification. It also poses as a safety issue for other department employees and the public, he stated.

“There is simply no way that trainees Harvard and Guzalak qualify as full-fledged firefighters,” Parker stated in the affidavit.

Union representatives filed a grievance with the city March 20. The arbitration process could take months, and an injunction would immediately keep the city from using the recruits as part of the 15-person staff.

According to Auburn Fire Chief Mike Hammon, the state academy's training program has recruits work alternating weeks at the academy and at the station.

Presently, the two men each have roughly 220 hours of training. The state Office of Fire Prevention and Control allows recruits up to 18 months to complete training at the academy, he said.

Furthermore, Hammon said, the two men will fill vacancies that would otherwise force the city to pay overtime. Using them “on the line” during those three weeks will negate approximately $10,000 in overtime, he estimated.

It is also common for fire departments to use probationary employees as line firefighters, Hammon added. He did so when working as a training officer in Auburn, as have his predecessors, Hammon said.

“As far as civil service is concerned, they are probationary firefighters from day one,” Hammon said.