July 4th message from 1014 Executive Board
Posted On: Jul 03, 2015

Los Angeles County Firefighters IAFF Local 1014

Representing over 3100 Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers,
Pilots, Wildland Firefighters, Forestry and Health Haz Mat personnel

Happy 4th of July Weekend! 

This weekend our members and their families will take time to celebrate Independence Day while enjoying BBQ’s, parades, firework shows, sporting events and more.  This celebration is a remembrance of July 4th, 1776 when the 13 original colonies claimed independence from England leading to the eventual formation of the greatest country in the world, the United States of America!  Remember those brave members of the Armed Services who have fought, and continue to fight today to keep us free and protect our nation.

As we take time to celebrate let us remember that there are serious threats to our Country that are prevalent this very weekend, and Local 1014 members along with Police, Sheriff and other Fire Service Personnel will be on the front lines to deal with anything that may come our way including the hot fire weather we are experiencing.  Our members will be in harm’s way serving at the stations and sites where we work, and once again performing to the highest standards in the Nation.  We should be very proud of our work and work hard to stay safe and get it done with the pride we always bring to the table.

We are facing many challenges in addition to those faced at work in performing our jobs.  We are also bargaining to get agreement on a successor MOU and the stress is high between the County and the Public Safety Units.  The County has not yet come to the table with any offers that will be satisfactory to Local 1014 or any of the other public safety units for that matter and we stand in solidarity in our quest for a fair contract.  We will continue to bargain after the holiday weekend and you can expect things to heat up a bit more as we progress.  If we cannot achieve a fair deal with the County at the table, we will likely head to impasse where a third party will assist in movement to a fair deal. 

We also are in the heat of battle to continue to protect our fire stations and sites from the adverse health effects of cellular and radio antennas as proposed by LA RICS and supported by the Department.  We did a spectacular job at the local level in halting the antenna construction that brought poor health effects and decreased property values to our citizens, but the fight is not over as we fight state and federal attempts by the telecom industry to get around us in whatever way they can.  We will continue to stand guard and hold the Department and the County accountable for their actions in this ongoing matter.  We will keep you posted on progress in the next couple of weeks.

We are also fighting the Counties new Dependent Eligibility Verification fiasco with both political and legal challenge with our partner Unions at the County Coalition of Unions (CCU).  We have sent out information on how to handle this item while we continue to pursue a challenge in court and through our political action with our Union brothers and sisters.  Please see our website for the most current information on the item.  We believe this latest DEV process to be invasive to our privacy of records, not legal and wasteful effort for something that is already in place and governed by our current Fringe Benefits Choices agreement.  More to come and far from done…. 

We are also under attack once again with a looming pension initiative designed to force the voters to approve any defined benefit pension plan or any bargained changes to a plan and default to a defined contribution (401K Savings Plan) in the absence of approval.  We are heavily engaged at the state level through California Professional Firefighters (CPF) and our allied Public Sector Unions.  This will not be an easy fight and we again will be having to protect our pensions.

Finally, as we head into this weekend we all know we are in some extremely adverse positions with Management on quite a few items that we will not list here, but you are well aware of.  The department owns the work on these items, and while we will go the extra mile to work with the Department on items where we can and will get good work done.  Some items we cannot, and will not, be able to resolve together. Therefore adverse position is where we will go and we will strongly challenge the work of the Department.  We will do this formally, politically and literally to the greatest power and strength of this great Union.  We will get through all of these issues and times and as great a Los Angeles County Fire Department as there has ever been will shine through in the end because of one thing….the people doing the work day in and day out, the membership! 

Please remember to take caution to be extra safe if you are at work this weekend and prepare for anything, and if you are off and celebrating take caution to plan for a safe weekend and arrange for NO DRINKING or if you are going to drink, CHOOSE A DESIGNATED DRIVER, GET A ROOM OR TAKE A CAB!  Make a PLAN!  Don’t ruin your career, or someone's life, by making a poor decision when it’s too late to recover. 

Have a safe, Happy and Proud Independence Day, and 4th of July Weekend and be extremely proud of your work and your dedication to this Department and the people we serve and proud of our service to America! 

Local 1014 Executive Board

Check iafflocal1014.org or local1014.org for details

  • IAFF Local 1014

    Copyright © 2024. All Rights Reserved.

    Powered By UnionActive



  • Top of Page image