The city of Canton has begun talks to reinstate four fired firefighters and avoid arbitration.

The Canton Repository reports an arbitrator ruled Thursday that firefighter Rosario Carcione be reinstated. City Safety Director Thomas Ream fired Carcione and four other firefighters last month stating they broke the law and violated city work rules.

The city investigation and the arbitrator’s report both focused on a longtime practice known as partial shift swaps and the payment of money when those occurred.

The firings occured after the city learned that some firefighters were working excessive numbers of hours, and believed the excess work led to accidents, according to the arbitrator's report.A firefighter can ask a co-worker to be their substitute and work part of their shift. The firefighter who gets the time off is then supposed to work the same hours in return later.

On the web : cantonrep.com