{"id":400530,"date":"2023-10-02T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=400530"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Former-DFEMS-chief-formation-of-Firefighters-Union-commendable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Former-DFEMS-chief-formation-of-Firefighters-Union-commendable\/","title":{"rendered":"Former DFEMS chief: formation of Firefighters Union commendable"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services commissioner Dennis Mendiola has praised DFEMS for organizing a union for its firefighters.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement about the recently organized union, Sen. Mendiola (R-Rota), said it is commendable that CNMI firefighters are proactively seeking to be unionized.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI completely understand that their primary objective is to ensure their own protection. During my tenure as commissioner, my public information officer advocated for this initiative. While I was supportive, I approached it cautiously due to divisions within the fire department and the financial obligation. However, the onset of COVID-19 in the CNMI redirected our focus toward prioritizing the safety of our residents,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Mendiola, however, said there has to be a balance between the firefighters\u2019 welfare and fiscal responsibility.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnions indeed offer advantages such as collective bargaining power, job security, and solidarity. However, they can also introduce challenges like added costs and potential disruptions. During economic constraints, resistance to cost-cutting measures may affect the government entity\u2019s adaptability. So, striking the right balance between firefighter welfare and fiscal responsibility is crucial, underscoring the need for constructive dialogue and negotiation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, he said, he is grateful that firefighters persevered in their efforts to become unionized.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope all parties involved fully comprehend the fiscal and personal implications of this movement. While protection is vital, it may impact personal stability, especially in our current economic state. Nonetheless, I am grateful that the firefighters have persevered in their efforts thus far, and may they reap what the sow,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>According to a previous <em>Saipan Tribune<\/em> article, DFEMS firefighters formed the labor union, called the Northern Marianas Professional Firefighters Union IAFF-Local 5335, under the overall chapter organization, International Association of Fire Fighters. Fire captain Paul B. Sasamoto will serve as the president of the local union. The NMPFU IAFF-Local 5355 is the sole and exclusive representative of all full-time employees who are bargaining unit members employed by DFEMS.<\/p>\n<p> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/images\/imgupload\/634f756af77cc774d9d32b1ee99c1893.jpg\" width=\"480\" height=\"360\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Dennis James Mendiola<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services commissioner Dennis Mendiola has praised DFEMS for&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-400530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}