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1014 weekend update
Passover, Good Friday & Easter
Brother and Sisters, as we begin Passover, finish Good Friday today, as well as look to Easter Sunday where many of our members will take time to remember great sacrafice followed by great hope, we should all take time to reflect on, and be thankful for, all we are blessed with as well as remeber our hard work to get here.
We are members of a GREAT Union and a profession unlike any other. We are also members of the greaest Fire Department in the world because of you, the membership of Local 1014. During these times of EXTREME leadership challenges in our organization, we can see some shining stars that are not on the front lines but are there to support us every day. We should all be thankful for them.
We will continue to shore up the Department to get through these difficult times and move forward to even greater accomplishments and recognition. As they say "We too shall over com.". As we continue to band together as firefighters, please remeber those we are here to protect: the citizens of Los Angeles County. We do that on such a high level everyday. At time it goes un-noticed or un-recognized, but we are thankful for what YOU do every day.
These are just a few items to update you on, and start your weeken of reflection with family and friends:
FRESNO FIRE CAPTAIN PETE DERN UPDATE:
LOCAL 1014 has been in close contact with our brothers and sisters from Fresno Firefighters Local 573 and President Pete Flores regarding help for Captain Pete Dern who, as you all know, fell through the roof and was severely burned on a house fire in Fresno. President Gillotte and President Flores will remain in close contact and our Local will be assisting not only with help for the Dern Family but also to help their Local through these times with sudden obligations that hit a Union already engrossed in the same financial and political battles we all have.
We have experience and resources to assist our Fresno Firefighters and we are making all of that available. More will be forthcoming next week. In the meantime, we encourage our membership to go to the Fresno Local 573 Webpage and link to follow his progress and to send any help you may be able to offer to the account set up for his family. We will keep him and his wife and daughter in our thoughts and prayers each and every day as we travel this journey with them.
Remember this could have easily been one of us. If you havent seen the video watch it here. Just a reminder: It is tough to watch but it is a reminder of the challenges we face everyday on any "routine" room and contents fire.
LA RICS UPDATE AND OUR BATTLE TO PROTECT OUR HEALTH AND SAFETY:
Local 1014 Members should take a moment and be proud of our work to shine a light on the failed LA-RICS Project, Together, we brought to light the embedded lack of due regard to our members and to the public by the LA-RICS JPA Board and- shockingly - our very own Fire Chief and Staff. Those who drove and supported this failed project flagrantly disregard critical Health and Safety Issues, as well as property value and community value issues where Cell Antennas were being installed into our Fire Stations and in our communities.
Local 1014 scored major victories with a 5-0 vote of the County Board of Supervisors to Halt Construction at all Fire Stations in the County of Los Angeles and to reassess the effectiveness and path of travel of the LA-RICS scope of work to create an interoperable radio system.
Thank you to Supervisor Mike Antonovich for taking the lead on this and hearing our very credible arguments on this subject. Supervisor Antonovich bravely dove into the matter and gained the support of all Supervisors who also valiantly have pressed up on LA-RICS and all of the issues to shed light on what would have been a covert operation in the cover of darkness from us and our citizens.
The Fire Department’s role in this is shameful and hurts our credibility with the very citizens we are sworn to protect. We are working hard to not only repair but further collaborate with our citizens as we move forward with next steps.
We also followed this victory up with a collaborated effort to help LA City Firefighters join the battle to protect their members and citizens. President Gillotte and President Frank Lima of UFLAC 112, along with our partners from the LA Federation of Labor and all organized Trades under the leadership of Executive Secretary-Treasurer Rusty Hicks, successfully lobbied a 12-0 vote to similarly halt cell antenna construction at all LA City Fire Stations while LA-RICS mission is evaluated and set straight as well. This was a tremendous lift for our union and a great partnership once again with two very strong powerful local unions - Local 1014 and Local 112 - to accomplish that what many said could not be done.
Next steps will be ongoing to ensure credible and integrity-based actions from LA-RICS and or any movement to radio upgrades that will ultimately put us back on path to what we need for our mission.
Thank you to all of our membership for your continued support on this item. Let us finish strong and do what the Department should be doing on items like this.....TIME TO LEAD!
INTEGRITY AND CORE VALUES AND OUR DEPARTMENT IN THESE TIMES:
As we continue to endure the effects of lack of leadership at the top end of our Department and inaccurate portrayals of our membership in the media and at the hands of our very own Fire Chief, we will also continue to protect our membership and the credibility of our Department through proper representation of the facts and actions of our members.
We have recently seen our Department drug through the dirt on so many fronts, and while some issues exist that must be recognized and will be dealt with appropriately with due process and fair judgment, to make a bridge to cheating scandal and inappropriate mentoring and study sessions and nepotism and so forth is absolutely irresponsible by our Fire Chief and Staff. The facts are not supportive of this in any way, and in fact the only failure at this point is to recognize that the very staff and person in Human Relations and under the Fire Chief’s "Watch" inclusive of the Business Operations Bureau of our Department is in a state of disarray currently and historically.
We will be lucky to get through the current testing process with the oversight of Roxanne Ortega and the Human Relations Staff under the Oversight of the Business Operations Bureau and Fire Chief as evidenced by the release of ET-127 indicating, “Everything is A-OK” with the current testing process. Where is the Department getting their facts and information on how it is going???
We will be updating you with more information on this in the very near future as we deal directly with the County Board of Supervisors to ensure a light is shed on all aspects of the HR Staff work on this and past exam processes under scrutiny and investigation.
Along those lines, as our doors get knocks from our at risk youth and community members including explorers, mentored women candidates and family and other very interested persons - and we are told to close the doors and refuse any on duty time to help the community - please use Core Values and direct the folks to the Union Hall. We will assist them with finding resources to prepare for the exam and to work hard toward success in the process.
The Department is lacking completely in any form of preparation or resources for any of our citizens and has chosen simply to run and hide from this to appease outside interests instead of addressing Department Mission and Goals for recruiting the best and the brightest in a career that only affects the life and safety of those we serve. It is time to highlight the failures of the Department HR and Business Ops side of our organization who ultimately, under the Fire Chief's authority, owns this work outright....
NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE SALARY AND CCU FRINGE:
We have now met for a second time and have scheduled meetings once a week (and agreed to more if needed). Our next meeting will be held during the week of April 6. This week we intended to get right to work and start serious discussions about our wages, hourss and working conditions.
As we have mentioned before we are also about to sit at the table for our Fringe contract with the CCU. We will be meeting the week of April 13 to begin those negotiations.
We again would like to request you complete the questionaire at this link to assist us with negotiations at both tables. Currently about 80 of our members have completed this survey. Please take a moment to complete the survey to assist us.
As a reminder, follow this link for the weekly update on negotiations.
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING APRIL 14TH, ON THE ROAD IN SANTA CLARITA:
We will be on the road for the April General Membership meeting. We will be holding the meeting at the location listed below. We will be discussing the following (and more):
Meet new Board Members David Baumann & Mike Jones
Katherine Barger - Supervisor Mike Antonovich's Office
2016 Pension fight
Cell Tower update
Santa Clarita officials to discuss Cell tower issue
Barb Maynard - Communication Consultant LA RICS Project
Negotiations update
Recent FFT exam
Fire Chief & other issues within the department
News Media
Chief Hisel for North Ops Q&A
Your Local 1014 Executive Board would like to take a moment to remind our members to take time to prepare before you celebrate if you are going to drink or serve alcohol. Have a plan. Take caution in your decisions this weekend (as always).
As always, thank you for your continued support, enjoy the holiday, and most importantly stay safe. Remeber to hug your loved ones often!
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