BY SCOTT LEFFLER
scott.leffler@eastniagarapost.com

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The City of Lockport Fire Board has voted to lay off five firefighters, Fire Board President Peter Robinson confirmed.

Without saying who was let go, Robinson said the board came to a decision to remove the five from their positions, positions that were defunded by the Lockport Common Council on Wednesday.

"With deep regret, the board voted to identify the five that would be laid off of the five firefighter positions eliminated by the Common Council," Robinson said. "The vote was 3-2. Any other inquiry should be directed to (deputy) Corporation Counsel David Blackley."

The board had met for an emergency session Wednesday night following the Common Council meeting, but adjourned without taking any action.

The Council had — in the wake of the firefighter union turning down a retirement buyout option — voted to eliminate the five positions that it had offered to buy out, in an effort to reduce the budget, Mayor Anne McCaffrey had said.

The fire department union, Local 963, had said in a statement to the press that the buyout offer was filled with contractual negotiations that needed to be handled separately, in particular tying in PERB items and healthcare cuts for retirees.

The fire union has been working under a contract that expired in December of 2012.

NOTE: Story updated to 10:50 p.m. to clarify reasons for union opposition to buyout offer.

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