Brothers and Sisters,

This Thursday, your negotiating team spent more than 10 hours at the bargaining table, and throughout the week we've continued grinding through the details of our next contract. While we're not at the finish line just yet, we made substantial progress and some significant gains.

This is exactly why we've continued to fight so hard at the table. From the beginning, we believed we could achieve a better outcome than the 0-2-5 agreements that many other unions accepted. We remained committed to that belief, and the progress we've made this week reinforces that the extra effort has been worthwhile.

As a reminder, both parties agreed to and signed bargaining ground rules at the outset of negotiations. Those ground rules require both sides to bargain in good faith, which means we cannot publicly disclose the details of proposals, counterproposals, or discussions taking place at the table while negotiations are ongoing. We know everyone wants updates, and we appreciate your understanding as we honor that commitment and protect the integrity of the bargaining process.

We know this process has required patience, and we sincerely appreciate the support and trust you've shown throughout these negotiations. We ask for just a little more patience as we continue pushing to secure the strongest agreement possible for our members.

We’ve had amazing hard-fought progress in the last month with BOS meetings and adverse bargaining meetings to push things forward and past some major hurdles in our quest to achieve a fair contract that values our members and, in fact, helps our newest members with issues affecting their retirement and health care costs. 

We will be at it every week until this is done, and we can say we finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, and when we look back, we can say, “It was worth the wait."

Thank you for standing with us. Your negotiating team remains united, focused, and committed to fighting until we secure the best contract possible for Local 1014.

Save the Month: September Suicide Prevention Safety Stand Down

This September, Local 1014 is joining with our partners at California Professional Firefighters and the California State Behavioral Health Task Force for a month-long Suicide Prevention Safety Stand Down.

More firefighters die by suicide than from fires, which is a staggering statistic. We are going to address suicide prevention with five short weekly drills for us to address the following topics to change the narrative and give our members tools to deal with this reality in our profession.  

• Week 1 Building a Healthy Lifestyle 
• Week 2 Building a Strong Support Network 
• Week 3 Knowing the Signs 
• Week 4 See Something, Say Something, Do Something 
• Week 5 Clinical Resources 

To help bring attention to this important topic, the California Fire Service Behavioral Health Task Force – composed of California Professional Firefighters, Cal Chiefs, Cal OES and the California Firefighter Joint Apprenticeship Committee – is calling on all California fire departments to participate in a Suicide Prevention & Awareness Safety Stand Down throughout September, to set aside time to conduct exercises and initiate a conversation on mental wellness.

Preventing suicide in the fire service starts with every one of us checking in on our own, having uncomfortable conversations, and recognizing the strength in vulnerability.                                                 

We must unite as a fire service to address this challenge—the lives and health of our firefighters depend on it. Throughout September, let’s work together to support our brothers and sisters.

More information will be coming out from the Department and the Union, and you can follow along here at http://healingourown.org and get ready to help each other and train like we train for anything else on our job.