The wife of a current Rockingham firefighter read an open letter to the Rockingham City Council criticizing policies of the city’s fire department — speaking out in support of the two local firefighter union officers terminated earlier this year.

The letter elicited a limited response from Mayor Gene McLaurin, citing pending litigation in not allowing any of the city staff to respond to the letter.

In his statement, McLaurin encouraged fire fighters to use the official process the city has in place for dealing with their grievances.

He asked for a copy of the letter and issued his response, then opened the floor for question or comment by the city council. The four members presents declined to respond at that time. Mayor Pro-Tem Bennett Deane was absent from the meeting.

Fay Meginnis, the wife of firefighter and union member Mike Meginnis, read for approximately four and a half minutes a letter of protest, claiming her husband would not be able to enjoy the canoe trail being added to Hitchcock Creek without clearing it with his superior in advance due to the city’s policy on turn-in alarms.

“My husband no longer has the freedom, under the current oppressive interpretation of ‘being on call,’ to just go boating on a spur of the moment impulse on his days off from the Rockingham Fire Department, for fear that he too will be fired,” Meginnis read from the podium facing the city council.

She noted such a trip would be possible on a day off, as long as he received the written permission of the city’s fire chief, and said other on-call city employees operate on a rotating basis instead of “24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

“The Rockingham Fire Department was not always so rigid in their interpretations of ‘being on call,’ she continued. “Most, if not all, of the past and current firefighters have held or hold part-time jobs to help substantiate their incomes away from the fire department.”

She said now-Fire Chief Charles Gardner had a part-time job when he worked as a fire fighter at the department, and that some of these fire fighters had provided appliances and completed landscaping work during renovations to the fire department at a discounted rate.

“I guess it made management look good at the time to be able to utilize the part-time services of these firefighters to come in under budget on these renovation line items,” she said.

At the conclusion of her letter, she spoke out in support of the Robbie Barber and Rodney Gandy, who were terminated from the department since the local chapter of the International Association of Fire Fighters union filed a lawsuit against the city in March.

“I want to express publicly to Mr. Rodney Gandy and Mr. Robbie Barber that neither of these men deserved to be treated in such an unfair manner,” she said. “This action should not have been condoned by the city manager, and accepted by the city council members and mayor.”

“First of all, thank you,” responded Mayor McLaurin. “I want to stress something to all the employees of Rockingham: We appreciate the outstanding job that they do. We have 131 dedicated employees who we value their service, value their contributions and value the work that they do to provide services to the City of Rockingham ...

“Now, beyond that, I am not going to allow people on the staff to comment. As you well know, there is a lawsuit that has been filed.”

He went on to say the fire department had successful safety and property protection records, and urged fire fighters to send grievances through the proper channels so city administration is made aware of their concerns.

The 4702 Local Chapter of the IAFF was formed on Oct. 1 by 10 members of the Rockingham Fire Department. On March 13 the union filed a lawsuit on its behalf claiming its members were entitled to overtime compensation in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The lawsuit was recently confirmed with multiple sources to have been amended to include disciplinary actions against fire fighters who joined the union.

The International Association of Fire Fighters labor union said in press releases in April and in June that Barber, who was the president of the local chapter, and Gandy, who was its treasurer, were dismissed because they failed to respond to turn-in alarms in a timely manner.

Rockingham City Manager Monty Crump previously said the firings of Barber and Gandy were “for cause,” and invited the fire fighters to allow the city to make their personnel records public so the charges could be answered.

He also said the scope of his response was limited due for legal reasons.

In the same interview, Crump said the positions created by the firings were filled by volunteer fire fighters, and the loss of the employees did not leave the department short-handed.

The IAFF press releases and interviews with Barber and Gandy have also accused Gardner of retaliating against employees who joined the union with disciplinary actions.

Meginnis, whose wife read the letter, was issued a written reprimand for being disrespectful to Captain Vic McCaskill on March 24, and was able to avoid a pending suspension for failing to respond to a turn-in alarm by producing a doctor’s note on a later occasion, according to the union.

The union also reported Barber was suspended for a week for failing to respond to a turn-in alarm before being terminated for failing to do so on another occasion.