Rhode Island airport workers ready for emergencies during contract negotiations

WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE) — Chaos in the skies in Washington DC alongside chaos in collective bargaining negotiations at T.F. Green Airport.

The union representing public safety officials and airport management sniping at each other in public statements.

“I want to speak for all my public safety employees that all of them go in to do the job they’re trained to do on a daily basis no matter what conditions they face,” Local 2873 President Steven Parent said.

Parent was very publicly terminated by the Rhode Island Airport Corporation in 2024 after spending 11 years as an airport firefighter, and the last eight as a lieutenant.

He said the sudden resignation of Public Safety Director Joseph Perkins raised alarm bells among his membership, leading to a vote of “No Confidence” in airport leadership, but they’re still at the table negotiating after six months without a contract.

The Rhode Island Airport Corporation, meanwhile, called it a “PR stunt.”

But Parent said he is looking beyond the union battle and thinking of the very difficult task first responders in Washington were facing.

“It rattled me to know what those public safety people were about to face,” he said.

Parent said it’s one thing to train for a situation, but it’s entirely another to hear a real life “Alert 3” come out over the radio, indicating an airplane crash.

“It is emotional to think what my brother and sister public safety people in that area are dealing with,” he said.

His message for Rhode Islanders traveling through T.F. Green was to have confidence in the men and women behind the scenes.

“Here in Rhode Island people can feel comfortable that our airport does a great job of making sure that if, unfortunately, that day came, nothing but the upmost professionalism would be performed there,” Parent said.