It has been one full year since Assistant Fire Chief Thomas Murray retired. After being the most highly decorated firefighter in Stratford and giving the residents and businesses of Stratford twenty five years of loyal and dedicated service, the Town of Stratford continues to withhold every penny of Chief Murray’s well-earned pension. By way of review, the Town delayed and bungled the staffing of the position of Assistant Fire Chief (the ones who actually go to the fire) causing massive amounts of unnecessary overtime. This despite repeated requests from the two remaining Assistant Chiefs to resolve the matter.
To date, the Town has refused to pay Chief Murray the pension that he has earned. The Town claims that the pension amount is too high. We agree. The pension amount is far too high. What the Town does not mention is that the reason it is high is because the Town made no move to staff the Assistant Chief positions to the required level. As we have stated previously, the Town permitted two positions to remain vacant for over a year. This forced the two remaining Assistant Chiefs to divide 168 hours/week between them. That leaves an 84 hour/week schedule for the two Assistant Chiefs. Whatever the political issues are, and being an election year we can guarantee they are substantial, the fact remains that the Town is in clear violation of signed contracts.
We find this (in)action on the Town’s part…well…disgraceful.
