FRIDAY UPDATE
Brothers & Sisters,
Your Local 1014 Executive Board has been continuing the fight this week as we continue contract negotiations and concentrate our efforts on fixing our staffing and recall issues within the Department.
NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
County Coalition of Unions (CCU) Fringe Benefit negotiations broke down on Wednesday, October 17, when the County negotiating team once again lacked authority to bargain over subjects and funding that would provide a fair contract for medical premiums and other fringe benefit items. The CCU will be meeting with the Board of Supervisors and involving the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor to try and get more authority and attention to our items. We will keep you posted as we continue to battle to get a fair deal at the table.
Additionally, salary negotiations continue to stall as we seek to secure not only movement on general salary, but also important bonus items for our members. We will be meeting with the CEO and the Board of Supervisors next week to try and clear up the issues that separate us from securing a tentative agreement.
All County Unions remain out, and in fact, ALADS Sheriff’s deputies who secured a Tentative Agreement have not seen one dime in their paychecks as of yet. This complex bargaining situation is a result of both the Flores decision and all Unions bargaining simultaneously resulting in many moving parts for the Board of Supervisors to consider as they seek to settle all tables. Thank you for your continued patience and support as we fight this out. We will let you know if we intend any job actions as we near impasse. We are confident we can secure a fair deal...one way or another.
STAFFING AND RECALL ISSUES
Local 1014 has been feverishly working to negotiate and amend over seven packets of staffing policy revisions to reduce the impact of recalls and shortages in our ranks. The battalion chiefs were recently moved to a 7-day out staffing by the Fire Chief following a recommendation by the staffing committee report. While we agree with the 7-day out staffing, there are so many more issues to deal with and we must gain agreement with the Fire Chief on all of those issues. The BC’s are non-represented and at will the Chief can change things as he sees fit. We have a contract which covers rules, regulations and manual of operations. There is a strict obligation to bargain in good faith over changes on the part of both the Department and the Union. This protects us when the Department wants to unilaterally change things by allowing us to reject the changes. Some of the major items we are dealing with are: 7-day out staffing, special ops unit staffing, out of county and strike team staffing, recall procedures to allow credit for recalls when someone is on a strike team assignment, days in a row worked, and more. Next Tuesday, October 23, the Chief Deputies of the Department and the Vice Presidents of the Local will meet again to try and hammer out the final items of the agreement. We will update you after the meeting. In addition to staffing issues, the Local is also working on hiring, promotions and the return to work situation which is having an adverse impact on staffing and is contributing to the recalls. The Department has failed to keep up with a long list of items including hiring, promotion, paramedic recruitment, retention, and hiring in dispatch, forestry and health hazmat, all of which has resulted in staffing shortages. Local 1014 is working on solving these problems in the absence of any Department solutions.
1014 ELECTIONS
Elections for the Local 1014 Executive Board are well underway. The following members have accepted nominations for the following offices:
PRESIDENT
Dave Gillotte (Incumbent)
1STVICE PRESIDENT
Lew Currier
2NDVICE PRESIDENT
Dave Morse
TREASURER
John Smolin (Incumbent)
DIRECTORS
Jason Cervantes (Incumbent)
Pat Dolan (Incumbent)
Kurt Kobler (Incumbent)
Domonic Finks (Incumbent)
Jason Green
Aaron Katon
Chris Reade
Ballots and ballot statements will be sent to your homes Friday, November 2, 2018. Just as a reminder, all ballots must be post marked by U.S. POSTAGE SERVICE and all ballots must be received at the Post Office Box by 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, November 20, 2018, in order to be counted.
All ballots must go through the Post Office Box. No hand carried ballots will be accepted. Mail your ballot in early so your VOTE counts.
BEHAVIORAL HEALTH
This week, Local 1014 attended the Public Safety Peer Support Association's (PSPSA) 3rdAnnual “Wellness on the Front Line” Conference. Our Local 1014 team participated in seminars on topics including: post-traumatic stress disorder, peer support responses to critical incidents, facing adversity, resilience, peer support program development, responses to the Montecito Mudslides, 2017 Las Vegas 91 Harvest Music Festival Shooting, and other important topics.
Our own LA County Fire Peer Support Team Leader Scott Ross, who also serves as a Director on the Executive Board of PSPSA, presented to the conference on his experience in crisis situations, training the next generation of peers, and expanding peer programs in fire departments throughout the nation.
In addition to Scott Ross, Peer Leads Lauren Dale, Josh Fehring, Jon Ladner, Pete Martinez, and Randy Walton attended to learn how to better help our members and members nationally. The LACoFD Peer Team was dispatched from the conference to a near miss shooting directed at Firefighters in Oregon and will be working with our Brothers and Sisters there this week.
As Chair of the State Task Force on Behavioral Health, I attended along with CPF President Brian Rice, Local 1014 Executive Board Members Lew Currier, Domonic Finks and Kurt Kobler, and our Cal-JAC partners to court culturally competent fire-centric clinicians and to further expand the PEER resources and education.
Local 1014 is dedicated not only to continuing to be a leader in behavioral health, but also to continuing to learn all we can to help support our members and get them the care they need to stay healthy.
October 1-31 is the LA County Open Enrollment period for 2019 benefits. Local 1014 would like to remind you to review you benefits and encourage you to look at The Local 1014 Health Plan as an option for your family. The Local 1014 Health Plan is among the most comprehensive plans available to Firefighters anywhere in the nation and is tailored to meet our Firefighters’ needs. This year, benefits will be expanded to include enhanced dental, hearing, fertility, and medical weight loss benefits just to name a few. Higher allowances, increased coverage, new benefits and greater options are just a few of the highlights of The Local 1014 Health Plan in 2019.
The Local 1014 Health Plan is the only health plan offered in the County that you can take with you into retirement and maintain FOR LIFE. It has never been more important for our members to review your healthcare options and ensure that you have the best coverage available for you and your family.
Enroll now at www.mylacountybenefits.com. For more information about The Local 1014 Health Plan, please call member services at 800-660-1014 or email medicalplan@local1014.org.
In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and your Executive Board
