Milwaukee Alderman Peter Burgelis accused Wauwatosa and West Allis of 'stolen credibility' for naming their merged department Milwaukee Metro Fire Rescue. Tosa Mayor Dennis McBride says it's 'much ado about nothing.'
The unions' statement, issued a day after the two cities voted for a consolidated fire department, refers to the need to negotiate a new labor contract with the new department once it is up and running.
The two cities' council votes on Feb. 24 commit both cities to move forward together with a joint department, though work still needs to be done before Metro Milwaukee Fire Rescue takes shape.
"We wanted to identify a professional regional name that reflects who we are now and who we will be, moving into the future," Interim Chief Barbara Kadrich said.
The proposed merger of Wauwatosa’s and West Allis’ fire departments cleared another significant hurdle this week as the Wauwatosa Common Council voted in favor of a preliminary list of terms for a final agreement.
On Dec. 12, the firefighters’ Local 1923 sent a letter addressed to Mayor Dennis McBride and the 16 members of the council sounding an alarm about labor uncertainty in proposed Tosa-West Allis fire mergrer.
Under Wauwatosa's current policy, the department does not collect any payments directly from patients who live in Milwaukee County after seeking insurance reimbursement.
The 13-1 vote authorizes city staff to begin negotiating the terms of a possible agreement while seeking answers to some of the remaining questions about how such a merger would work and how a joint department would be managed and governed.
The Wauwatosa Professional Firefighters Association is open to supporting a potential merger of the Tosa and West Allis fire department, which its president calls "a defining moment for both cities."
The bell outside Wauwatosa's fire headquarters originally rang on the USS Wisconsin, commissioned in 1901. A group wants to move it to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc.
