WPBFD History

Employee Relation Committee (P.E.R.C.) hearing was scheduled in April to hear evidence and settle the dispute. At the last minute the city, seeing that they had a poor case, agreed to the union's position. As a result, 110 of the 118 fire department personnel were considered to be in the bargaining unit. The hearing was cancelled, but the union had been forced to spend thousands of dollars in legal preparation. The 110 eligible bargaining unit mem- bers then unanimously voted Local 727 to be their repre- sentative in contract negotiations. The first contract between the City of West Palm Beach and the Firefighters Local 727 was signed in the fall of 1976. There were few concessions gained by the union, but the process set the stage for improved benefits in the future. The union sought legal assistance from Kaplan, Sicking, and Bloom, a highly regarded Miami firm specializing in the field of labor law. Steve Bloom, one of the Miami partners, would later open an office in West Palm Beach to handle the increased need of labor organizations in the area. Bloom proved to be a true friend of the firefighters for the next decade, and later became legal council for the West Palm Beach Fireman’s Pension Fund. He also represented firefighters from Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, Boca Raton, Riviera Beach, and other Palm Beach County departments. 1977 Kennedy was not pleased with the failure of his 5BX exercise program, so in January of 1977 he estab- lished an annual physical fitness test to weed out the in- firm and the fat. To make sure of compliance, Kennedy

When someone complains about a dangerous fire condi- tion at a school, all we can do is inspect and plead with school officials to do something. We aren't even called in to inspect new school buildings for fire safety." The fire department continued to provide education for firefighters. In May of 1976 the Department of the Army gave a class entitled Explosive Ordinance Recon- naissance and Bomb Threat Course. Some twenty West Palm Beach firefighters attended the two days of lectures and demonstrations. All who attended agreed that the instruction could have been shortened by saying, "leave the bomb alone and evacuate." The 1975-76 annual report looked better than the previous year. Fire deaths were reduced to 2, fire injuries were down to 19, and the total fire loss down 10 percent. There were 1,276 alarms, a 20 percent increase, but this was due primarily to a larger number of medical alarms. Kennedy's E.M.S. program was moving ahead as 15 paramedics were in training. All company officers were also receiving EMT I training to provide B.L.S. service. Kennedy wanted to use his own terminology for the new program instead of the widely adopted term, “fire rescue.” He selected "Fire Medics" for personnel who would man "Early Response Stabilization Units." West Palm Beach Firefighters Local 727 had stead- ily gained power during the 1970s and the city increased efforts to head off negotiations that might result in a con- tract with the firefighters. One stalling tactic was an at- tempt to minimize the power of the union by excluding officers from the proposed bargaining unit. The union wanted to include all personnel through the rank of cap- tain. Unable to find common ground, a Florida Public

The First EMT Class 1976. L to R, Front Row: Palmlee Howe, Ron Appleton, Jay O’Hara, Bill McKillop, Bill Serey, Cletus Pirtle, Bob Boike, Jim Harmon, Bill Eaton. Back Row: Mike Cronin, Lee Price, Jack Bonham, Bill Gulbransen, Instructor Bill Marcley, Bill Krick, Dennis Withington, Ray Carter, Jim Heaton. 6