UNITED STATES
A recruitment drive by the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) aimed at attracting more members from minority communities has foundered because hundreds of African and Hispanic Americans have not paid the US$30 (A$40) application fee.
The news cast doubt on the US$10 million (A$13.5 million) campaign and sparked derision from current and retired firefighters.
Normally, candidates for any job in the New York Public Service cannot take the entrance examination unless they complete an application and pay the fee.
This was the case for the 45,000 or so people who took the city’s firefighter examination last year.
However, at the FDNY’s request, the Department of Citywide Administrative Services, which administers the examination, let 1,010 people take the firefighter exam without completing their applications, officials said.
Now about 900 would-be firefighters, including 406 African Americans and 262 Hispanics, remain in limbo because they still haven’t paid the fee or obtained a fee waiver.
The recruitment campaign was instituted after a court ordered the FDNY to increase minority hiring.
The city set a deadline, which ended yesterday (6 August), for the candidates to comply, while a fraternal group of African American firefighters sent out notices urging the delinquents to complete the process.
One retired firefighter said the applicants could not have been serious about wanting the job.
“If you don’t take this job with the right intentions, you’re going to get somebody hurt or killed,” the retiree said.
“When I took the test, nobody had to beg me to fill out an application or pay a fee.”
New York, 30 July 2018
