New Orleans firefighters said Monday they will no longer work voluntary overtime and other unscheduled hours beyond their regular shifts, escalating a fight with Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration over a host of labor issues in the department.

In announcing the boycott, firefighters union President Aaron Mischler said that increasing calls for service have stretched firefighters too thin, resulting in more than 90-hour work weeks in some cases when voluntary overtime is factored in.

The boycott won't impact Carnival parades or emergencies, but it could create issues for other large events, such as Carnival balls or springtime festivals that feature outdoor cooking. Firefighters are required to be on site at those events in case there is a fire or other emergency.

“Until the city agrees to address the issues that plague our once great organization, we can no longer work (voluntary) unscheduled hours beyond our regular shifts,” Mischler said.

Fire Superintendent Tim McConnell said his staff will figure out how to keep the city safe with on-duty firefighters, and he called his department's firefighters the finest in the nation.

While he noted that the city is working to increase staffing levels, he also defended the city's treatment of firefighters and criticized the union's leadership for taking this posture.

“Their decision demonstrates a lack of leadership on the part of union-elected officials and that is unfortunate,” McConnell said, adding that despite the job action, "we will do what we need to do to keep people safe."

The fight between union officials and Fire Department leaders centers on labor and staffing issues. The union claims the NOFD’s roughly 480 rank-and-file firefighters constitute the lowest staffing level in the agency’s 128-year history. Mischler said the number of calls for service has increased by roughly 150 percent during the last decade while the NOFD's ranks have simultaneously shrunk by 25 percent.

To cope, many firefighters have volunteered for far longer hours than what is usually a 56- to 72-hour work week, said Doug Shanahan, a firefighter and union spokesman. Mischler said those long hours have mentally and physically taxed firefighters, endangering them as well as the public.

McConnell agreed manpower is lower than is ideal, noting that the department is currently down 60 firefighters from its authorized strength. But he said that there are two recruiting classes this year that should help boost numbers. He also said that while calls for service of various types are up, structure fires are down by more than 50%.

As he's done before, McConnell said the department's size is safe for both the city and its firefighters.

Mischler said that under the boycott, firefighters will continue to work their regular shifts and will also be available to work mandatory overtime during a weather-related disaster or other emergency. Still, the new policy could create headaches.

Firefighters working voluntary overtime help erect and take down barricades for parades. During events at the Saenger Theater, they have been posted outside the exits that are nearest the site of the deadly Hard Rock Hotel collapse across the street.

Events like the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and French Quarter Festival, where food vendors cook outdoors, are required by law to have firefighters on standby. So are New Orleans Pelicans games, which incorporate pyrotechnics for player introductions.

Those standby firefighters usually are on off-duty details.

With firefighters declining to work those details, the city would likely need to pull on-duty personnel from stations across the city, reducing the number of firefighters available to respond to emergencies elsewhere, Mischler said.

The specifics of the fight between the union and the department involve overtime pay, promotions and the firefighters' pension fund.

Shanahan said firefighters are asking for changes to how their overtime hours are calculated. Currently, firefighters don’t get paid their overtime rate until they exceed 212 hours on a 28-day cycle.

They want to be paid their overtime rate after exceeding 96 hours on a 14-day cycle, bringing them more in line with the New Orleans Police Department’s policy of paying officers overtime beginning at 85 hours on a 14-day cycle.

Firefighters also say the rates they are paid for off-duty details lag behind those given to members of other first-response agencies in the city. The union seeks an hourly increase of $5 across all ranks.

Other issues involve promotions and pensions.

Union officials argue that the city administration is able to pick and choose whom it can promote, rather than relying on a system primarily based on test scores.

New Orleans firefighters 'unconstitutionally denied promotions' should get them now, court says Fifteen New Orleans firefighters who were passed over for promotion despite high scores on an exam two years ago should be elevated to captain…

According to the union, that is the case even after a December 2018 appellate court ruling found that 15 New Orleans firefighters had been unconstitutionally passed over for promotions for what were essentially political reasons, despite civil service rules meant to prevent that scenario.

As for pensions, union officials want a uniform system. Currently, firefighters hired after 2015 must work 40 years to fully collect a pension, while those hired earlier can begin collecting after 30 years. Shanahan said the city had promised to ask the Legislature for permission to make the pensions uniform for all by this year, but didn’t deliver.

NOFD captain promotions were illegal, but little can be done now, civil service ruling says The New Orleans Fire Department ran afoul of the state constitution when it promoted dozens of firefighters to the job of captain even though …

“Young firefighters have no way to plan or prepare a career path and see no future with the NOFD,” Mischler's statement said.

McConnell countered that Cantrell's administration in 2018 authorized a 10 percent, across-the-board raise for firefighters and other city employees, after they went a decade without such an increase. “Unfortunately ... union leadership has forgotten,” McConnell said.

While the boycott could cause some staffing issues, it's a far cry from the disruptions of some labor actions in the past. In earlier disputes, including one roughly 20 years ago, firefighters staged “sick outs” where they called in sick en masse.

For example, when about 75 percent of the NOFD called in sick one day in 1999, the city said it prevented a dangerous manpower shortage by requiring other firefighters to work back-to-back shifts, costing the city about $28,000 worth of overtime compensation.

Union leaders and Cantrell’s administration met Friday in hopes of making progress on the firefighters’ grievances. Mischler said that meeting was not successful, setting the stage for the boycott announcement.

Note: This post was updated to add comments from McConnell.