Representing over 3200 Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers,
Pilots, Wildland Firefighters, Forestry and Health Haz Mat personnel
Brothers and Sisters,
A quick update on a few important issues our Union is working on heading into February 2016….
We ratified our final Contract for Bargaining Unit Members 603 and 604 encompassing our Local 1014 Family of Dispatchers, Fire Prevention Engineering Personnel, Forestry Technicians, and Health Haz-Mat Specialists. These members are the supporting cast for our 601 and 602 members in keeping the County safe and we thank them for their work and are proud to have negotiated another very lucrative contract with additional bonus programs in place as well. The ballots were returned with good turnout and an 87% yes vote to ratify. This now will be ratified by the BOS and implemented with retro-activity asap.
With that accomplished Local 1014 members are now all safely in 3 year salary contracts and fringe contract. This is very important as we move forward and the County faces a few more challenges as we climb out of the financial hole we have been in. The forecast looks good moving forward, but as always don’t count on anything until it is here, but we are cautiously optimistic about the upward trend in our revenues vs. expenditures.
Now the sad truth about our raises… We have to contend with our Department Human Resources section, Payroll and the Auditor Controller to actually finish getting our raises with the bonus’ and premium time adjustments for all of our specialties and work downs, 40 hour pay and more. Clearly the Department and the County has let not only us, but all County brothers and sisters, including our Chief Officers, down in this most important area of responsibility. It is one of the most important and fundamental job duties and responsibilities of our Human Resources Section and ultimately under the control and accountability of the Fire Chief and his two Chief Deputies in Operations and Business Operations to ensure that we get paid correctly and on time, and they have failed to meet the mark. It is incumbent on the department to ensure and even DEMAND the Auditor Controller service our Department and employees with a high level of quality work when it comes to salary and benefit administration.
We have seen overpayments, underpayments, no bonus pay in certain instances and not just on rare occasion, but fairly regularly. The Fire Chief has responded to our demand to correct this situation not only in the instant matters but also as a whole to correct problems that have been systemic since we switched over to e-caps for payroll. We obviously still use IPFIRS to enter our time, and clearly the twice monthly shut down of the system to hand calculate the eccentricities of our pay to then enter into e-caps, is not working. The Fire Chief blasted the Auditor Controller and demanded a “PAYROLL TASK FORCE” be established comprised of Labor, Department and County Representatives to identify what the problems are and make sound recommendations to correct the problems. Local 1014 has 2nd Vice President Dave Morse and Directors Andy Doyle and Mike Jones assigned to the Task Force and they are meeting at a minimum weekly to get to the work at hand. We will keep you updated as the work occurs, and we are hopeful that this will lead to a payroll system that will work well and a timecard we can easily read and understand to ensure we are paid correctly. In the meantime, if you have any payroll or timecard issues please contact the Union Hall and we can assist in resolving your item.
While we are appreciative of the Fire Chief moving this item in collaboration and with sufficient weight of the Department Head to get solutions and corrections that are so needed, it is too late in the game for us all to operate on trust and with any level of confidence in the Department Human Resources and Operations Staff to get it done timely and correctly, so Local 1014 is moving forward with a series of Grievance General In Characters and possible legal action to hold the Fire Chief, the County, the Auditor Controller, and Human Resources accountable for correct payment of salary and benefits to our members. We will move forward with these actions simultaneously with our efforts on the “Payroll Task Force”. It is too bad it has to be this way, and while we stand committed to working with the Department and County, it will be with accompanying leverage of legal and administrative actions.
Along the same lines, the Human Resources Section is also responsible for the entry level testing to hire new recruits and also to predict the need for paramedic school attendees and promotions based on retirements and vacancies. It is clear that the civilian personnel in Human Resources have no idea what those needs are and when we need them. The entry level testing we recently experienced was a complete failure and embarrassment to our great Department. We are getting by with the process but with a low bar on quality of process and timeliness of process with log jams occurring with entry level physicals and other such pre-academy needs. We barely had enough personnel cleared and ready for the January 25, 2015 class. Human Resources blames the County and the problems with the resources for physicals and background and so forth, but ultimately it is THEIR RESPONSIBILITY under the direction of the Fire Chief and the Chief Deputies to prepare, recommend and ensure and even demand the resources are ready and can process our candidates so we can hire and train and be ready to address staffing needs for not only recruits, but paramedics and promotional positions to do our jobs.
Perhaps one day the civilian work force in Human Resources will not consider the safety personnel as the enemy and rather view them as the people who put their lives on the line each shift to protect the public and save lives. Perhaps the sworn Chief Officers at executive level will demand the Human Resources personnel be educated, trained and philosophically aligned with the needs of those of us who do the work where the rubber meets the road. For now, the Union will work to not only identify these needs, but also hold accountable the work of this section moving forward with entry level testing, promotional testing and layered recruitment and retention efforts as well. There has been a complete failure on behalf of the Human Resources Section to be proactive, progressive and data backed in their efforts to recruit and retain minority and women candidates and in all areas of hiring, a solid basis for quality of candidate in our latest processes. We will also be addressing these issues without fear and in a way where we can all be proud of our recruiting efforts, our entry level testing and promotional testing efforts. We have great training and education and professional resources within the California Fire Fighter Joint Apprentice Committee (JAC) to address all of the entry level testing and recruiting issues we must address. The Human Resources Section didn’t even know what JAC was when asked, nor are they even remotely connected to state of the art data backed progressive testing and recruiting processes. We deserve better from our Department in this most important work to ensure the best and most qualified candidates complete with diversity embedded are who we hire. We will be taking this effort direct to not only the Fire Chief, but also the County including the Board of Supervisors as we move forward. We can no longer wait for the Human Resources Section and the executives overseeing this to get it right. Stay tuned and we will keep you informed as we make recommendations to the Board of Supervisor and the Fire Chief to make our system a premium system we can all be proud of.
Finally, a little bit about training and equipment. The Union just got back from the IAFF Affiliate Leadership Training Symposium (ALTS) where we took part in Leadership Training that involved many operations issues and equipment issues. We are quite proud of our Training Services Section and an number of our members who instruct in Fire Ground Survival Training and other areas of operations. A live stream of “Surviving the Fire Ground” was broadcast and many of you tuned in live. For those who did not, please take a look at this and see what you think of not only the training, but the message delivery from this teaching cadre and please comment back to us at info@local1014.org As always, be safe, be vigilant and protect not only the public we serve, but also your rights as you perform you job, call the Union for assistance or help on administrative matters that may affect your paycheck or have adverse impact on you.
