Wilmington Firefighters Union Takes Vote of 'No Confidence' in Chief Bradbury

Bill Cavanaugh, president of Wilmington's Firefighters Local 1370, doesn't mince words when it comes to how he sees the work environment at the Wilmington Fire Department.

Cavanaugh uses words like "hostile," "vendetta," harassment" and "unsafe" to describe the conditions existing due to what the union claims is the unprofessional conduct of Chief Edward Bradbury.

On April 23, the Union took a vote of "no confidence" in Bradbury. The next day, Cavanaugh says he hand-delivered a letter with the results of that vote and the explanation for it, to the office of Town Manager Jeff Hull. It was addressed to both Hull and the Board of Selectmen. A complete copy of that letter can be found attached to this story as a PDF docuement.

"We haven't heard anything back since then," said "Nothing from Mr. Hull and nothing from the Selectmen.

According to Cavanaugh, 25 of the union's 33 members attended the April 23 meeting and that the vote was unanimous.

"I've tried to talk to Mr. Hull in the past about the problems and he's indicated he feels it's a small minority of the union members that have a problem with the chief," said Cavanaugh. "But you look at that vote, 25-0, that's not a small minority."

In its letter of no confidence, the union outlines specific allegations of misconduct against Bradbury during his five-year tenure as chief. The union demands that either town management step in and take action to address these problems or that Bradbury resign.

"If there were any other way to try and fix these problems, we would have done it," said Cavanaugh. "We didn't take this vote lightly. We're in a harassment situation. It's a hostile work environment and an unsafe work environment."

According to Cavanaugh, the problems date back to February 2008, when Bradbury was appointed provisional Chief. Cavanaugh claims Bradbury tried to circumvent Civil Service requirements and just be appointed without any competition.

"He thought he deserved the job and it should just be given to him," said Cavanaugh. "(The Union) was trying to preserve the process."

After the union forced the issue at the state level and the town was required to implement the Civil Service procedures, Cavanaugh claims Bradbury embarked on a series of personal vendettas against union members.

"It wasn't personal against him but he took it very personally," he said.

Among the complaints outlined in the letter of "no confidence" are allegations that Bradbury:

• Took unwarranted disciplinary actions against certain union members.
• Refused to schedule required CPR recertification testing.
• Failed to promote and schedule regular safety training.
• Made "incendiary and false remarks about the physical/mental characteristics of firefighters under his command."
• Failed to keep regular work hours and did not inform staff as to where he was when out of the office.
• Threatened to "bankrupt" the union as retaliation for them forcing the Civil Service issue.

Cavanaugh admitted that the union has been working without a contract since July 1, 2012. However, he said the complaints against Bradbury are completely separate from contract negotiations. He said the issue finally came to a head because neither former Town Manager Michael Caira nor new Town Manager Jeff Hull was willing to step in and take action to address their concerns.

Cavanaugh also said the issues with Bradbury have not impacted the performance of the Wilmington Firefighters.

"I have to say I'm really proud of the guys for being professional through this whole deal," he said.

Neither Bradbury nor Hull immediately returned phone messages seeking comment about the "no confidence" vote and letter.

However, in an email to the Lowell Sun, Hull said he had full confidence in Bradbury and expressed disappointment that the "personal issues of a few" were being placed ahead of the well-being of the town.