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Brothers & Sisters,
Today we honored the memory of our Brother Jon Flagler.
It was a difficult day, but also a day of sharing fond memories, laughing, as Jon would have, and giving thanks for not only our fire family but also the blessings of this job and the brotherhood and sisterhood we share as we serve the communities of Los Angeles.
Perhaps no one could have summed up the mission of our fire personnel with more depth than Jon’s father-in-law, Dwight Johnson. He said, “Everyone please look around…love and admiration for the many men and women in uniform. They are the same heroes that protect us day in and day out…respect them, honor them, they will give their lives for you, as my son has given his life for you.”
At the service, we heard from Jon’s family and friends and from our fire family. They told stories of his incredible sense of humor and his all-encompassing love of his family and his life.
In his remarks, President Gillotte reminded the Flagler family that they are part of our fire family and they can always count on the “sea of blue” to be there for them forevermore. He continued, “We cannot turn back the clock nor reshape what happened but we can stand strong together.”
Our Local 1014 Executive Board attended and together with International Association of Fire Fighters General Secretary-Treasurer Frank Lima, California Professional Firefighters Secretary-Treasurer Mike Lopez and IAFF 10th District Vice President Stephen Gilman presented The Local 1014 Bible and the IAFF Medal of Valor to Jon’s wife Jenny.
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Yesterday, Jon's home station, Fire Station 13 in Vernon was bunted in black and purple. The Honor Guard and Pipes and Drums, our Vernon Firefighters and Battalion 14 Firefighters were joined in a sea of blue to fly the flag and embrace the Flagler family.
We also had the immense honor of dedicating our Vernon Training Center as the “Jonathan Flagler Memorial Regional Training Center”. The memorial dedication will serve as a reminder for future generations of the sacrifice and service of Brother Flagler. We shall never forget. |
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In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
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Brothers & Sisters,
START WHERE YOU STAND
This Department, more than most, has dealt with tragedy over the last three years. Yet somehow, we amazingly find our feet and stand together, stand in solidarity, and stand as a Fire Family to help each other, and our families as we grieve. We use the collective spirit and energy of our membership to take care of all of the little things that matter.
Thank you to everyone who attended the candlelight vigil to honor Brother Jon Flagler and his family this week. The love and support within the community and within our Fire Family for Jon, Jen, and the boys was overwhelming. |
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Thank you to all who have worked tirelessly to take care of Jenn and Brody and Jack and the entire Flagler family and to those who will continue to work next week as we prepare for Jon’s Flag Ceremony and Services. We hope and encourage every member of our Department to be there for the services and to bring our sea of blue for Jon’s family.
Over 50 members of our LACoFD Peer Support Team and our Dr. Steve have been supporting our members and the family every day. Please reach out if you need PEER support help. Click here to get contact information for the Peer Support Team members or utilize the posters in your stations. The Chaplains have once again provided a protective shield and a safe place for Jon’s family to deal with their grief and all they must handle to move forward.
Let us finish out this next week with pride, honor, and courage as we continue to stand together as we lay to rest our Brother Jon Flagler. We should not wait for tragedy to stand together. Let us honor Jon by continuing to stay strong.
A flag ceremony will be held on
Thursday, January 20th at 10:00 a.m.
Los Angeles County Fire Department
Fire Station 13
3375 Fruitland Avenue
Vernon, CA 90058
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Local 1014 members and the LA County Fire Department are truly the best in the world because of the men and women who work here.
Start where you stand as we move forward and stay in this place of solidarity and strength. |
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SIRT TEAM INVESTIGATION PRELIMINARY WORK
Today the system worked like it is supposed to work. The Serious Incident Review Team (SIRT), comprised of both Union and Management has been investigating, interviewing, and coordinating with arson, law enforcement, federal and state investigatory agencies. Their preliminary and final reports with lessons learned will be released soon enough.
While we wait for those reports, the SIRT team identified a couple of radio issues that need to be addressed immediately. These items are not solely a result of this incident nor would they change this incident, but have been identified as potential health and safety issues that need immediate correction.
The Union and the Department met in very short order to produce a corrective action plan and it will be out by the time this Friday update hits your inbox. The issues involve reprogramming rig radios to hear the e-trigger warble tones and the second is the policy of primary channel for radios to ensure e-trigger is heard on the fire ground. Please look at the EA and train and review these items with your crews.
This is an example of a system and process that has netted rapid and timely response as a result of an incident and investigation without waiting or delay for a final report. This is a build off of the Union action to halt the radio release originally, and thankfully many other radio safety issues were addressed before their rerelease. Special thanks to the radio SME team in particular Steve Weston, Landen Jansen, Chief Papas, and Director Carcioppolo for their work on the radio issues then and now.
Chief Marrone and President Gillotte have been in communication and have assigned the current SMEs on this project with great care to ensure the top experts and radio technical issues are in play. We will keep you updated as we know more. |
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COVID VACCINE MANDATE UPDATE
Local 1014 has consistently and repeatedly taken a position of support for the COVID vaccine but opposition for a mandate for the vaccine, and taken an aggressive stance on negotiations and policies for exemptions and reasonable accommodations. This path is in alignment with the law and has proven to be the right path to protect all of our members.
We have been fortunate to not lose anyone in our membership, but we certainly have more than a handful of long COVID members some young who may not make it back to work. We have a legal vaccine mandate which has been held up in both federal courts and state courts and now in interest arbitration decisions in every state. The federal decision to strike down OSHA authority over vaccine mandate in private business has no effect or impact on public sector employers or government entities.
So, where are we? The very law that empowers the Executive Order for mandate also empowers and protects individuals who don’t want to be vaccinated through consistently applied medical and religious exemptions. The law also provides that reasonable accommodations must be provided to continue employment and work. For us, that is registering vaccine status and ring or periodic testing along with masks on calls and in places where we cannot distance, cleaning, and emergency protective gear in place while we work. Click here to read EA 24.
We have been in constant grinding negotiations with both the Department and the County with the Coalition of County Unions and we have kept our members in a very good place with regard to the mandate whether you are vaccinated or not. We will continue to work with Chief Marrone on a path to keep everyone “in the boat” as we all cross the stormy seas. You should be either vaccinated or registered and comply with ring testing at this point as we navigate this path.
We had a breakthrough mediation session yesterday after leaning into the County, they responded with an emergency mediation to bargain over all of the exemption approval, appeal, and accommodation processes. We vetted Shaw HR Consulting firm and have gone over all processes that are clear and unambiguous for each Department and its employees to understand. The exemption process involves a review by an outside consultant, Shaw HR, a County Counsel, and DHR review, and then a recommendation sent to each Department Head for authority and sole approval or denial. This leaves the final decision to approve or deny with the Fire Chief as our Department Head. We believe that this system as it is constructed gives shape to a neutral and fair interpretation of the law governing exemption and also gives ultimate authority to the Fire Chief for decisions. We continue to bargain over appeal processes.
Any members who are choosing to not register or not comply with ring testing are facing a 5-day suspension which will not be served, and not affect the single highest year per our negotiations, but will be applied on the books for the purposes of progressive discipline, and make no mistake this is a path to intent to discharge 10 days after that discipline is levied. We do not support nor recommend any job actions to not register or test. This puts your job in jeopardy and we will vigorously represent all members who choose this path with regard to rights of representation and skelly and the full force process for discipline. Know that the Fire Chief has been extremely cooperative in working with the Union to handle the registration and testing order and continues to provide any and all mechanisms to bring all into compliance at any time.
Be kind to each other, be supportive of each other. Chief Marrone and President Gillotte meet daily on this and any and all individual situations are also evaluated and handled case by case. Please contact the Union if you have any special needs or situations that arise.
Finally, we are also asserting our rights under collective bargaining to challenge any and all proposed changes to competitive promotional exams with regard to the vaccine mandate and we will have more information on that work as we negotiate with the Department on any such proposed changes.
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In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
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It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of one of our own, Brother Jonathan “Jon” Flagler. Brother Flagler passed away early Thursday morning after sustaining significant injuries while battling a residential structure fire in Rancho Palos Verdes.
Known for his sense of humor, his dedication, and his commitment to the profession, Brother Flagler, 47, was a 21-year veteran Firefighter. He was previously a member of the Vernon Fire Department for 19 years before transitioning to LACOFD in October 2020. Brother Flagler leaves behind a wife, Jenny, and two sons, 15 and 13.
This incident is a sobering reminder of the real dangers our members face each and every day as we fight to keep our communities safe. We are an amazing Department, the best in the business and together not only do we handle our business and the work that can sometimes take our lives in service to others, but together we get through the trying times in solidarity.
From moment one, Brother Flagler's family has had both Department and Union support and will continue to have that in the upcoming weeks as we prepare to lay Jon to rest and honor him. The Flagler family is a remarkably resilient and strong family and we ask everyone to let Chaplain Vince Roldan be the gatekeeper and protector of Jen and the boys in the next few days to allow them to have solace and calm.
Local 1014 was on the incident as it began to take shape and on behalf of the entire Executive Board, we would like to thank you for the incredible work everyone did over the last 36 hours on this incident within an incident. From Operations to our Fire Ground, SIRT, Law Enforcement Investigation Team, our incredible Memorial Management Team, Family Liaison and Support Group, our Peer Support Team and Leads, and our communications teams, we worked as one unit to get it done for our fallen brother. Finally, we would like to keep in our thoughts and prayers the Crew of Fire Station 83, the Squaddies of 106 and the entire Battalion 14 family who operated on the fire, and our Dispatchers who did an amazing job on this incident as always in our time of need.
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We know there are many close friends and family members and many good fundraising and helpful ideas beginning to take shape but we ask that you be mindful of the family's wishes and donate to only those fundraisers approved by the family. Director Jason Cervantes will be our Family Liaison and is working with the Chaplains as we prepare for services and family support. You can contact Director Cervantes if you have any questions about fundraising efforts.
A memorial fund has been started through F&A Credit Union. Please see the details above on how you can contribute to helping the family in the weeks and months ahead.
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The unanswered questions about how and why this tragedy happened are currently in progress with the Serious Incident Review Team (SIRT) investigation. Director Pat Dolan and Chief Will Pryor are heading up that effort on the scene.
This week, we ask that the focus be to take care of the Flagler family and our fire family. Lean into each other and on each other. Please remember that everyone heals differently and on different timelines. Know that time off is always secured and some will use it and need it, and some will not need it and will be back at work sooner rather than later. If you have any needs reach out to the Peer Support Team. They are out in the stations over the next three days to continue with the initial reach out and debrief. Click here to get contact information for the Peer Support Team members or utilize the posters in your stations.
This weekend, send your thoughts and prayers to our County fire family and to Brother Flagler’s family as we deal with our loss together. Thank you to all the members who have stepped up to help and will continue to help in the coming weeks as we lay Jon to rest.
Finally to Chief Marrone, the entire Local 1014 Executive Board, Chiefs Bennet, Harter, Cabrera, Pena, Ewald, Fire Station 83, Squad 106, Battalion 14 Units thank you for your work that night. Stay safe and take care of each other. |
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In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
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On behalf of your Executive Board, Staff, and Trustees of Local 1014, we wish our over 3200 members and our Fire Families a Healthy and Happy New Year!
As we end a challenging 2021 and prepare to greet the uncertainties of 2022, let us do what we always do, lean into each other, and lean on each other as we lay it on the line serving the residents of Los Angeles County.
We are truly are the best in the business and we have a Fire Family like no other. We can tackle anything when we come together and find the paths of travel to get it done.
Happy New Year! COUNTY! - LOCAL 1014 STRONG! |
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In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
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On behalf of your Executive Board, Staff, and Trustees of Local 1014, we wish our over 3300 members and our Fire Families a Merry Christmas and a Safe and Healthy Holiday Season!
This year, we are grateful that our efforts as a Union have ensured that our membership has remained united and strong. We continue to navigate the impacts of the vaccine mandate and are thankful that we have been able to keep our members secure in their jobs through the holidays, unlike so many departments across the nation. Your Executive Board continues to fight for the wages, hours, and working conditions our members deserve as we enter another bargaining session for our members next year.
We are blessed to work for the greatest Fire Department in the nation. In spite of overwhelming odds, all our Local 1014 members including Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatch, Heavy Equipment, Health Haz-Mat, Forestry, Camps, and Pilots remain committed to the mission of providing world-class service to the over 4 million residents of the unincorporated communities of Los Angeles County and 59 contract cities we serve each day.
We know that you and your families are making sacrifices this holiday to ensure the safety of our fellow brothers and sisters and the communities we serve. We not only recognize this sacrifice we are forever thankful for your commitment.
The holidays are a time of joy and gratitude but they can also be a time of stress and for our members, a time when call loads increase and our jobs become more challenging and more demanding. That is why it is important to remind all our members to take care of each other. If you or one of your fellow brothers and sisters need help, please reach out and get that help. The Peer Support Team is always there to help or visit www.healingourown.org.
We would also like to send special thoughts and prayers to those serving in our military abroad and to those serving in our fire stations, dispatch centers, and our communities this holiday.
Finally, for those celebrating with family and friends, as always, we ask that you celebrate responsibly. Get a ride, a cab, or a room but please stay safe this holiday.
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In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
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This week, we continued mediation with the County on the COVID vaccine mandate. Mediation is slow going but we are still continuing to move toward a path for exemptions and accommodations. Mediation is confidential, but we will continue to update you when we have more information to share. While this fight goes on at the bargaining table, we still have our members out there fighting every day to protect the public, just as they have been for the past two years. Our members protected the communities of Los Angeles when there was no vaccine, putting their families and themselves at risk. Thank you for maintaining solidarity as your Union Board continues to work on behalf of all members.
Peer Support Training at Local 1014's Union Hall
Earlier this week, Local 1014 hosted Peer Support Training at the Union Hall. This week, we added 45 outstanding new peers to our team. We are proud to say that we now have over 200 IAFF-trained Peers Support Members on our team making it the largest team in the nation!
Special thank you to our Peer Support Coordinator Scott Ross and our Mental Health Clinician Dr. Steve Froehlich for continuing to drive excellence in our Peer Program and expand our resources for the benefit of our members, families, and all in the fire service. |
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2022 Shift Calendars COMING SOON! |
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This year, in preparation for our upcoming 48-96 Trial Shift Schedule Change, we will be printing a one-year calendar with the Kelly Shift Schedule on one side and the 48-96 Shift Schedule on the other side. While we continue to push for the implementation for the trial, we want to be sure you and your families have the tools you need to plan for next year.
Our members will be receiving the following calendars:
- Active Members – Two (2) large 56-hour shift calendars
- Dispatchers – Two (2) large Dispatch Schedule Calendars
- Retired Members – One (1) large 56-hour calendar
We expect the calendars to arrive early next year. Until then, you can download a printable copy of the calendars on the 1014 website. Following the one-year trial, we will resume printing two-year calendars for all members. |
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Local 1014 Keeping Our Local Elected Officials Engaged |
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One of the most critical things your Local 1014 Executive Board does for our members and our profession is to engage in political action on behalf of our interests. But political action is not always about elections, it is also about keeping our local elected officials from every level of government engaged with our issues and our needs.
Vice President Kurt Kobler met with Assemblymember Phillip Chen (R) this week to discuss the ongoing needs of our members at the state level. Assemblymember Chen is one of the champions for our Firefighters and our profession as we continue to fight for more resources for LA County. Thank you Assemblymember Chen for all you do to help our members and their families.
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In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
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COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate Negotiations Update
This week, the LA County Sheriff penned a letter asserting potential security and medical data concerns with Fulgent, the contracted laboratory and service provider for LA County. It is worth noting that Sheriff himself was supporting registration with Fulgent and the weekly testing for unvaccinated Deputies as late as last week. We are very interested in any additional information that may have come forward from the meeting he and the County had with the FBI.
In his letter, the Sheriff indicates these concerns were given to him in a meeting with the FBI on November 26, 2021. While the letter has no data or formal reports from the FBI, it has certainly rocked confidence in the procedural and contractual obligations negotiated between Fulgent and the County. As you are aware, the County Coalition of Unions (CCU) and the County held three separate meetings to renegotiate terms and conditions of consent forms, agreements for excluding DNA samples in testing and ensuring data security with the US hosted and protected systems in place. Local 1014 was the last Union to hold our members from registering if they had not already done so until these meetings were completed. As we, and almost every other Union, have indicated they would not have been our choice of contractor, but they were the County's choice. See the County of Los Angeles response to the issues raised with Fulgent below.
As a result of this development and the impact on not only our members but the members of every Union in the CCU, we convened an emergency meeting with the County to discuss this letter and the concerns raised by the Sheriff. President Gillotte and your bargaining team members put forward four simple suggestions that were adopted by all Unions in the CCU and sent in a letter to the County on follow-up. We requested 1) alternatives to Fulgent for registration and testing, 2) the tolling of any proposed discipline for any members not registered, 3) any facts and minutes and/or data from the FBI meeting be shared with the Unions, and 4) a confidential meeting between the County, the CCU, and the FBI under the protection of privilege by the attorneys to view any information that cannot be shared with the public but is germane to our bargaining and impact on our members' medical property and data security.
We also met with the Department in our ongoing conversations with Interim Fire Chief Marrone and Deputy Chief Breshears in dealing with all of the COVID-19 mandate impact items. We have put forward a proposal for temporary tolling of any proposed discipline or skelly meetings for any members who have not registered with Fulgent, any members who are hesitant to test in the ring testing or periodic weekly testing can provide their own PCR test from a certified testing facility, and the agreement for coverage of time off if positive and quarantine agreement items will remain in effect with the outside test results as compliance.
In addition, we have requested the Department to evaluate longer-term alternatives for both testing and data hosting for our personal information in perpetuity. We will keep you updated on these items as both the CCU and Department talks continue.
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For now please stay the course and call the Union if you are met with any resistance to our temporary plan for testing. The testing is to also keep our members safe and our families safe when Covid does strike any of us. We take seriously not only all we are working on with regard to the mandate, but also as we have consistently provided, our support for the vaccine, periodic and ring testing, safety gear and procedures, and all that we can do to keep our members and families safe. There is ground for all of this to co-exist reasonably. We look forward to a communique from the Department on the situation and a temporary agreement to help us all navigate this new development.
Meeting with Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh |
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President Gillotte along with other Presidents of the LA County of Federation of Labor Unions met with Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su at the LIUNA Labor Hall. LA FED Secretary-Treasurer Ron Herrera using his experience with Teamsters, help set the meeting so Labor Unions could discuss directly with the Secretary and his Deputy issues affecting Los Angeles County workers.
President Gillotte tackled the infrastructure bill and moving federal money to California and Los Angeles County to not just provide valuable jobs but also tax and revenue to the County which helps our economy both directly and indirectly. President Gillotte is a Vice President on the LA Federation of Labor Board and has been involved in Los Angeles County revenue and jobs recruitment for many years. This work is critical to the booming California business economy that feeds the state and county.
Also discussed were the positive impacts of President Biden and Secretary Walsh’s recommendation to leverage transportation grant monies due to California against the PEPRA violations in the transportation builders contracts. This is a positive shoring up of our position on the California Rule protecting our pensions in California and will aid our court and political cases for such a position. We are an issue-based Union and on this issue, we will be with team Biden / Walsh to protect our pensions. This is very timely as we also look to combat a pension assault initiative that is in the works for next June. We will have to work to combat any and all efforts to erode our pension security. President Gillotte also thanked Secretary Walsh who hails from Boston as the Mayor who took care of the Boston Firefighters including our own General President Ed Kelly, for the work on the firefighter cancer registry and PFOS legislation to keep firefighters safe and to help battle cancer in our profession.
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Establishment of the Wellness Division
We would like to thank Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Janice Hahn and the 5 votes that continue to help Local 1014 members apply pressure and ensure accountability with the Department in our quest to protect and build our mental and physical health resources.
The ET-522 while we are grateful for the
The Sierra Incident and the impact on not only our membership and families but on the Fire Service in US and Canada demands our continued work to develop our Peer Support and Leadership Training as well as hiring an occupational health doctor who will be a labor/management doctor to strictly take care of our members physical and mental health integrated with our IAFF Wellness Fitness Programs and Peer Support Programs. This allows our final exit from County OHP as the medical authority over our members care and fitness for duty issues. We have been working on this for many years and with the sense of urgency and also driven commitment as a result of the Sierra Incident and our previously high suicide rates, we thank the Interim Fire Chief Marrone for his continued push to get this done and leave our future brighter than before.
Also thank you to the Peer Support Team Leads and Dr. Steve Froehlich for the continued guidance in how we resource and build out our program which has now become the premier Peer Support Team in the nation for the IAFF. |
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Establishment of the Wellness Division
The Sierra Incident and the impact on not only our members and families but on the Fire Service in the US and Canada demands our continued work to develop our Peer Support and Leadership Training as well as hiring an occupational health doctor who will be a labor/management doctor to strictly take care of our members physical and mental health integrated with our IAFF Wellness Fitness Programs and Peer Support Programs. This allows our final exit from County OHP as the medical authority over our members' care and fitness for duty issues.
The ET-552 was issued yesterday announcing the establishment of the Wellness Division. While we are grateful for the efforts of the Department, we are once again in a situation where management is disconnected from the needs of the members. The Union is working to ensure that all members that need Behavioral Health services are not stigmatized by the labeling of those services and are able to go to a neutral location where they feel safe to heal. Unfortunately, ET-552 did not properly relay this message. The Union will be working diligently with our Peer Team to ensure that the behavioral health resources for members are appropriate and work to break the stigma within the Department and the fire service. More on this as we work to find a new location for the Wellness Division and find the right culturally-competent people to staff it.
We would like to thank Supevisors Kathryn Barger and Janice Hahn and the 5 votes that continue to help Local 1014 members apply pressure and ensure accountability with the Department in our quest to protect and build our mental and physical health resources. Special thank you also to the Peer Support Team Leads and Dr. Steve Froehlich for the continued guidance in how we resource and build out our program which has now become the premier Peer Support Team in the nation for the IAFF. |
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In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
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