IAFF Local 1014

Friday Update 2-17-23

Updated On: Mar 13, 2023

Brothers and Sisters,

This Presidents Day weekend, we begin by wishing everyone a safe a healthy holiday. As we celebrate leadership and American history this weekend, we are also thankful that our Department and our members are part of the American tradition of service and providing lifesaving aid to those in need worldwide. LA County Strong! USA!

Our USAR teams in Turkey continue to work around the clock to help communities devastated by earthquakes. Since arriving, they've assessed rescue possibilities and structural damage at more than 4,500 buildings. We have been following the incredible rescues and work that our team is doing.

Our teams will be returning home soon. We are thankful for our members and their families who have sacrificed over the last few weeks to save lives across the globe.

Getting Things Done

While we have made some very good progress in the most recent months with a reset to our Fire Department Administration, and we are working diligently and collaboratively for the most part with Interim Fire Chief Marrone, we also need full authority for a Department Head to own the work, to speak for the Fire Department, to run the Fire Department and guide our work where it interfaces with Big County. We need the ability for the Fire Chief to push back on DHR, and County Counsel when the unique needs of the Department and our job criteria require it.

We are asking the BOS to empower us with a full status Fire Chief / Department head so we can get our work done, and hold the Chief accountable for the work as the authority will actually rest with the Fire Chief and not Big County. We also are continuing our push to have a full vetting and robust test in place to select the next long-term chief of our Department. We deserve the best the County or outside has to offer to run our Department, and the only way to find that candidate is to test with interviews and performance assessments and ask questions to evaluate the passion and commitment to the men and women who serve daily on the front lines.

We have many issues to address and some in motion, and getting leadership set in the short term and the long term is critical to moving the work. We have many agreements in fact, that cannot be implemented because of this situation, and we are working on getting this done asap to help our collective labor/management processes as well. Stay tuned as we work to get this done.

Click here to view our letter to the Board of Supervisors

UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION WITH THE UNION

To ensure that we maximize our outreach efforts to our members, we will send out a survey regarding the staffing changes soon.

In order to ensure that all Local 1014 members can access the electronic survey, please update your contact info with the union at the link below. If you have people in your station who do not receive the Friday Update, please encourage them to sign up on the website so we have all members' email and ensure fair access to the survey.

Click here to update your contact info on the website. NOTE: If you do not have a login you will need to create one.

In Solidarity,

President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board