Palm Beach County

A local firefighters union has filed a class action grievance against Palm Beach County for switching the laundry soap it provides at station houses. For the past 23 years, the county bought Tide detergent for its firefighters and paramedics. Recently, the county's purchasing department decided to put the laundry detergent contract up for competitive bid. A Georgia company who provides Blue Wave Ultra detergent won the bid and saved the county $4000 a year. However, within a few months of switching brands, the firefighters began to complain. The firefighters union performed tests that showed the new soap was not suitable for decontamination, had inconsistencies between samples, and contained chemicals that would be corrosive to station washing machines.