A reminder that Tuesday May 8, 2012 is our next in a series of meetings (at your Union Hall) regarding, among other things, the "Corprate Power Grab" initiative that will be on the ballot November 6th.  This measure is designed to do one thing...take away our voice.  The next step is to take away what we have fought hard for over the last 50+ years.  Please plan on attending and get informed.  Retirees are welcome.  This WILL affect you as well.  See attached for more details.

Below is our political action update for May 5th with information on a few of our most challenging cites that we are working with.

July and the new fiscal year are just around the corner and it is a very busy time for Local 1014 in regards to Contract City Political Action. The economy is slowly showing signs of recovery, but the lingering effects of a sluggish economy have caused City councils everywhere to look for ways to make cuts and balance their budgets. One of the ways for City Administrators to do this is to look at all services that they provide to their citizens. They review both in house services and those of which they are contracting out. Your union, Local 1014 is an active partner in this process for all 58 Contract Cities that our Department serves.  We are there, along with the Fire Department Staff and the City Administrators, to insure that all possible solutions are looked at and investigated prior to any budgetary actions being taken. We have contractual protections both as the Fire Department and as a labor group. Many steps have to be completed prior to any actions by a City that would result in cuts to our staffing levels or the service we provide to the citizens that we protect. Therefore it is premature to be talking about what those reduction or cuts would be at this time.  We have received reports that Chief Officers have been out conducting meetings with our members about possible staffing cuts or reductions in service.  Be very wary of any information that might be given out by any of these Chief Officers. It is too early in the negotiations process to make any accurate assumptions as to where the negotiations will lead us. The last thing we would want to do is to try to convince our members to prematurely accept pending cuts that have not even been negotiated yet.  Below is a brief update on some of the more active Cities at this time.   

Inglewood 

We are working with the City Council to try to find revenue sources to reopen Fire Station 172 earlier than the contractual agreement of three years.  SAFER grant funding has been applied for by our Department with the concurrence of the City. The process is ongoing.

Pomona

There has been a request by the City manager to look at ways to save money from their Fire Department contract. There have been a few options proposed by the City, but no clear course of action has not been determined as of yet. The item has been pulled from the May 7, 2012 Council agenda, thanks to the diligent work of your Local 1014 Executive Board. We are in negotiations with the City Manager and City Council members at this time.  We are trying to assist them in coming up with alternative solutions to their financial issues. The process is ongoing and NO final agreements have been made on any concessions in our contract with the City.

El Monte

The SAFER Act Grant money, that Local 1014 helped secure to reopen the station, will be ending at the end of June 2012.  Currently the city does not have the funds to keep the station open.  Your 1014 board is working with the City Council members and the Administration of the city to try and find other revenue sources to continue to fund the fire station.

Monterey Park

There was a resolution put on the Wednesday May 2, 2012 council agenda by Mayor Lau and Council member Anthony Wong to discontinue annexation negotiations with the County of Los Angeles Fire Department. But thanks to the quick action of your Local 1014 Executive Board, and the decision by Council members Mitchell Ing, Teresa Real Sebastian and Betty Tom Chu to do the right thing for the citizens. The Council voted 3-2 on Wednesday evening to go ahead with the negotiations process and the selection of an Ad-Hoc committee to study the viability of our feasibility study. The Ad-Hoc committee will compare our feasibility study, conversion costs and a study that was done by ESCI, an independent group contracted by the City to meet the requirements of a City Ordinance that was passed in 1999. The committee will be comparing service levels and savings to the City.  They will then give their findings in a report back to the City Council, who will in turn vote whether or not to allow an initiative to be placed on the ballot for the citizens to vote on.

Please realize that your Local 1014 Executive Board is always on watch to protect your wages, hours and working conditions. Political action at all levels of the government is one of the most important ways in which we do this.

Thank you for taking the time to read this update!  See you on Tuesday May 8th.

Presdient Dave Gillotte and the Executive Board