November 8, 2011 City Elections a big success for Local 1014!

Well it was another busy election season for your Local 1014 Executive Board. Seventeen (17) Property Tax Pass-Through Contract Cities and two Fee-for-Service Contract Cities held municipal elections on November 8, 2011.  Your Union Executive Board was all hands on deck to help ensure that those who support us were elected to office. Even though we were all very busy with our normal union activities, we put in double time leading up to another successful election day.

At Local 1014 we have always supported those who support us and this election was no different. Political Action is where our bread is buttered and the reason we are able to get things done for our membership.  The protection of our wages, hours and working conditions starts with the voters at the polling place, electing the candidates that understand the importance of public safety in their communities. During this election cycle alone, 19 out of 21 council candidates endorsed by Local 1014 were elected. Also, out of 4 Mayoral Candidates endorsed by Local 1014, 3 were elected. So we were 23 out of 25 for our total endorsed candidates. That is a 92 percent success rate! 

In the City of El Monte, we had a Fire Station reopened a short while ago using SAFER Grant funding, and we are depending on the City Council to come up with the funding to keep it open permanently.  We were able to help remove two incumbent Council members who did not try to keep the station open originally. They showed that they were not receptive to fire and life safety issues in their community. Even after Local 1014 came up with the solutions to keep the station open, they took our solutions and used the funding in other areas of the City budget.  This was unacceptable as far as your Union Board was concerned.  It showed a complete lack of disregard for the safety of the citizens of El Monte and our members. Your union board comes to the table as partners, with solutions to issues.  All that we expect is that council members do the same and be willing to honestly consider our solutions or come up with alternatives to provide the proper level of protection for their citizens and our members.

Your Local 1014 Executive Board will always be standing on the wall guarding and protecting our wages, hours and working conditions, as well as the safety of our members and the citizens that we serve. However, we could not do this at the level of success that we have achieved without the support of our members and friends. For local elections, your Union works within the house of labor and a coalition of Unions called the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. To help us in dealing with state issues, we are members of the California Professional Firefighters (CPF). The CPF helps to garner support and lobbies on behalf of firefighters at the state level. Your President Dave Gillotte is one of the Vice-Presidents on the CPF Executive Board.  In these political times we are going to need all the help we can get to navigate the rough waters of Tax initiatives and Propositions in the months to come.  So when those of us on the wall blow the warning horn, please respond and step up to help. It is going to take all of us to keep this ship pointed in the right direction!

Your Local 1014

Executive Board