Los Angeles County Firefighters IAFF Local 1014

Representing over 3200 Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers,
Pilots, Wildland Firefighters, Forestry and Health Haz Mat personnel

MLK Day 2016

Los Angeles County Fire Fighters Local 1014 would like to take a moment to remember the late Martin Luther King Jr.

Local 1014 is one of the major sponsors of the Martin Luther King Jr. Parade in Los Angeles. We, along with our Labor Partners in the LA Federation of Labor and a host of top elected officials including our very good friend Mark Ridley Thomas will take time to reflect on not only a civil rights leader but also a Labor Leader who helped with so many Labor issues for workers including the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) of which firefighters are familiar with every two weeks! Many Labor victories that affect us today were fought for long ago with great leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Junior.

Have a great finish on the holiday weekend and remember the man we honor and his work.

Fraternally
Local 1014 Executive Board

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

“No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We need to constantly reflect on the privilege of being blessed to live in

MLK Quote of the Week: "All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence"......

Los Angeles County Firefighters IAFF Local 1014

Representing over 3200 Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers,
Pilots, Wildland Firefighters, Forestry and Health Haz Mat personnel

Tune in for the IAFF Safety Stand Down on Monday, January 18, 2016 LIVE WEBCAST

A live webcast will be held during the Affiliate Leadership Training Summit (ALTS) featuring workshops on Fire Safety Standards and Codes and Surviving the Fire Ground. The webcast is scheduled for Eastern Time and is free to all IAFF members.

10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. (EST)
Fire Safety Standards and Codes
Learn more about current issues in building codes - including solar and stored energy safety and tall wood buildings - that dramatically affect your safety and response and which are now under debate in the codes and standards development process.
Presenters:

• Richard L. Swan Jr., IAFF Director of Wildland Fire Fighting Safety and Response
• Sean P. DeCrane, Cleveland, OH Local 93
• Matthew Paiss, San Jose, CA Local 230

Watch as a group at the firehouse or union hall, or on the go wherever you are. The webcast will be also available on the conference web site and IAFF Frontline app.

Don't have the IAFF Frontline app? Download it to your device from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Los Angeles County Firefighters IAFF Local 1014

Representing over 3200 Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers,
Pilots, Wildland Firefighters, Forestry and Health Haz Mat personnel

February 9 General Membership meeting is on the road again.....

Los Angeles County Firefighters IAFF Local 1014

Representing over 3200 Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers,
Pilots, Wildland Firefighters, Forestry and Health Haz Mat personnel

The ballots are in the mail for 603 & 604

Los Angeles County Fire Fighters, IAFF Local 1014, Executive Board reached a Tentative Agreement (T/A) on a successor Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) for Bargaining Units 603 and 604, which include Health Haz Mat (HHM), Fire Protection Engineers (FPEA), Dispatchers and Forestry Technicians. If ratified, the T/A will then proceed to the LA County Board of Supervisors for approval, triggering a retroactive pay increase to December 1, 2015. The new contract will expire at midnight on September 30, 2018.

In addition, the County has agreed to analyze the inequity adjustment evaluation information provided by Local 1014 for employees in the FPEA Series and the Forestry Technician classification. If the County agrees with the information we provided them, they will recommend an inequity increase to the Board of Supervisors no later than June 30, 2016.

On behalf of the Local 1014 bargaining team, we believe that this is a good contract and we recommend a YES vote. While we did not get every item we wanted or fought for, it is a fair agreement with good general salary movement and additional gains. We are proud of our members who stood tough and allowed us to fight it out to secure the other items in addition to general salary. It has not been an easy road and we had to fight the Department and the County on many proposals they had on the table to protect our package.

The T/A contains the following items and agreement that will enhance our current MOU:

GENERAL SALARY INCREASE:

DISPATCHER BONUS ENHANCEMENT:

12/1/15: Bonus increases to 6.5% from the current 5.5% for employees in the Fire Dispatcher Series for EMD certification.
6/1/15: The County will introduce a Tiered Dispatch Program. Dispatcher bonus will increase to 7.5% for EMD certification.

SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL:

Shift differential pay for employees in the Fire Dispatcher Series will increase to $1.00 per hour from the current .55 cents per hour on 10/1/17. The first increase in over 8 years.

STANDBY PAY/CALL-BACK PAY:

Standby pay for employees in the HMS I, HMS II, HMS III, & SHMS classifications will increase to:

12/1/15: $3.10 per hour (+$0.60 per hour). The first increase in over 8 years.
10/1/17: $3.25 per hour (+$0.15 per hour)

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS DIVISION – EMERGENCY OPERATIONS SECION ASSIGNMENT BONUS:

HMS II employees assigned to work in the Emergency Operations Section shall receive a 5.5% bonus. Replacing the current temporary ARB.

OVERTIME:
SECTION 2.

Employees in the FPEA I, FPEAR II and SFPEA classifications may:

Elect to receive compensatory time off (CTO) in lieu of pay at the rate of 1 ½ hours for each hour worked over forty in one workweek.
Accrue CTO to a max of 120 hours. CTO in excess of the max cap will be compensated as provided by FLSA.
Elect to receive CTO in lieu of pay, at the straight time rate for all non-FLSA overtime worked.

SECTION 3. USAGE OF NON-FLSA COMPENSATORY TIME

Employees shall not be directed by Management to take CTO without at least 10 days’ notice or be denied a timely request to take such time off.
CTO accumulated by employees not used during the calendar year in which they are earned may be carried over one additional calendar year.
CTO time not used in the given time period will be paid at the straight time rate rather than lost.
For 603 & 604 members we will be sending out ballots for your ratification vote on January 6th with votes to be counted January 22nd. After that date the Board of Supervisors will then approve the contract ratification at their next scheduled meeting.

Ballots were snet out by US Mail January 6th and must be returned no later than January 22, 2016.

Any questions please contact either Dave Morse or Andy Doyle by email or phone at (310) 639-1014.

Los Angeles County Firefighters IAFF Local 1014

Representing over 3200 Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers,
Pilots, Wildland Firefighters, Forestry and Health Haz Mat personnel

3...2...1....

While our membership finishes out the last day of 2015, some with friends and family, and some with brothers and sisters at the shop and on the job serving our citizens today, we clearly all will be reflecting on 2015 and preparing for 2016.

We have many things to be thankful for in our lives and certainly as "Los Angeles County Fire Fighters" we have more than most in the Fire Service to be thankful for in our wages, benefits, and working conditions.  We wouldn't want to work anywhere else, and clearly many others pray to be able to work here. We should be proud of our job and our Union and the people that make it happen each and every day.

Please also take a moment to remember all those who we lost in 2015, as well to "Never Forget" all of those we have lost historically.  Their families will go on, and so too does life, and we can be a part of that forward motion while keeping them all in our hearts, our thoughts, and our prayers.

2015 has been a challenging year in some areas (staffing and payroll to name a few) but a good year in others (salary increases, new MOU and a new Fringe Contract agreement). 2016 will be an even better year we predict. The department is committed to hiring to fill the ranks as well as working to fix the broken payroll system using a working group to include labor.

"TRADITIONS OF SERVICE EXCELLENCE"...Los Angeles County Fire Fighters IAFF Local 1014...

Happy New Year and once again...
PLEASE CELEBRATE RESPONSIBLY!  BE SAFE TONIGHT…

In Solidarity,

Your Local 1014 Executive Board

Los Angeles County Firefighters IAFF Local 1014

Representing over 3200 Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers,
Pilots, Wildland Firefighters, Forestry and Health Haz Mat personnel

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
December 2015

From my house, my firehouse, and our Union House...Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you and your families. From the bottom of my heart and on behalf of a remarkable crew of Union Board members, we finally take short pause to reflect, remember and enjoy the fruits of our labor as we celebrate the season with our loved ones, or for some of us with our Firehouse Families.

This year has been an incredible year on all fronts with Local 1014 Members experiencing so many highs and lows. The greatness of our job was and always has been humbled by the sacrifice of some...we shall never forget.

We are blessed to be LA County Firefighters, and specifically Local 1014 Members. I include all of our Local 1014 Members in Dispatch, Heavy Equipment, Health Haz-Mat, Forestry, Camps, and those many Chief Officers who have not forgotten where they came from and remain in the Brotherhood and Sisterhood with strong purpose. We salute you all. We have all worked hard to get it done.

We finished the year with excellent pay increases and more benefit days and special bonus' pay and many other contractual items that others statewide will not see. We should be proud and we worked hard politically and literally to make it happen. Your Executive Board logged countless hours, many late nights and lost family time to make it happen. I thank them and if you see them please do the same. The old guys, the new guys...everyone working together to deliver the goods. I am thankful to them because the results impact my family also. They work hard for us. I am just the quarterback of the team that grinds the work out and delivers the work product. I am proud to be a part of the whole deal.

Does that mean everything is golden, everything is all good? Certainly not. We have many things to continue to grind on to make our workplace the top job in the nation. While we will continue to work with the Department where and when we can, it is clear that now that we are done with contracts and pay and benefits for the next three years, we will now have to concentrate on the running of the fire department and the policies and practices that can be improved. We give credit to the Fire Chief and Department where they have met us and worked to make very positive change occur. We will continue to work with the Chief and Department in those areas. However, it is clear and the Fire Chief has acknowledged in writing, much work needs to be done to court our full potential for greatness on our job.

The new year will be a year to grow our Union resources with technology, Regional General Membership Meetings and education and deeper involvement of the membership in issues affecting us and our families. Specifically a few areas include holding the Chief and his staff accountable for the service and quality of work we deserve from Payroll in getting us paid accurately, staffing to levels that allow us to accomplish our mission and also maintain our lifestyle and family lives. Words will not accomplish these tasks. Actions will define the work to produce results from the Fire Chief and his "Executive Team".

We all answer to the citizens we serve and the elected officials who represent those we serve. We have worked hard to establish long term relationships with the communities and the representatives in our first in, and the Department will either listen to our collective voice and work hard to achieve our common goals of excellence on the job and in our communities, or wake up to a reality of political and literal "Loverage" to change their course. "Loverage is leverage with a little love...". It is real and is our strength to accomplish much for our members and for the folks we serve day in and day out.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays as we close out a remarkable year, with so much to do in 2016! Celebrate responsibly and love on each other. These are words from a dive bar at the end of a hard ass day to close out Union work for you, for us.

Sincerely, Dave Gillotte President Los Angeles County Fire Fighters IAFF Local 1014

Los Angeles County Firefighters IAFF Local 1014

Representing over 3200 Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers,
Pilots, Wildland Firefighters, Forestry and Health Haz Mat personnel

Local 1014 reaches Tentative Agreements on two different contracts

603/604

Los Angeles County Fire Fighters, IAFF Local 1014, Executive Board has reached a Tentative Agreement (T/A) on successor Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) for Bargaining Units 603 and 604, which include Health Haz Mat (HHM), Fire Protection Engineers (FPEA), Dispatchers and Forestry Technicians. If ratified, the T/A will then proceed to the LA County Board of Supervisors for approval, triggering a retroactive pay increase to December 1, 2015. The new contract will expire at midnight on September 30, 2018.

In addition, the County has agreed to analyze the inequity adjustment evaluation information provided by Local 1014 for employees in the FPEA Series and the Forestry Technician classification. If the County agrees with the information we provided them, they will recommend an inequity increase to the Board of Supervisors no later than June 30, 2016.

On behalf of the Local 1014 bargaining team, we believe that this is a good contract and we recommend a YES vote. While we did not get every item we wanted or fought for, it is a fair agreement with good general salary movement and additional gains. We are proud of our members who stood tough and allowed us to fight it out to secure the other items in addition to general salary.  It has not been an easy road and we had to fight the Department and the County on many proposals they had on the table to protect our package. 

The T/A contains the following items and agreement that will enhance our current MOU:

GENERAL SALARY INCREASE:
10% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), keeping us ahead of inflation.
12/1/15:       +3%
10/1/16:       +3% 
10/1/17:       +2%
4/1/18:         +2%

DISPATCHER BONUS ENHANCEMENT:

• 12/1/15: Bonus increases to 6.5% from the current 5% for employees in the Fire Dispatcher Series for EMD certification.
• 6/1/15: The County will introduce a Tiered Dispatch Program.  Dispatcher bonus will increase to 7.5% for EMD certification.

SHIFT DIFFERENTIAL:
Shift differential pay for employees in the Fire Dispatcher Series will increase to $1.00 per hour from the current .55 cents per hour on 10/1/17.  The first increase in over 8 years.

STANDBY PAY/CALL-BACK PAY:
Standby pay for employees in the HMS I, HMS II, HMS III, & SHMS classifications will increase to:

• 12/1/15: $3.10 per hour (+$0.60 per hour).  The first increase in over 8 years.
• 10/1/17: $3.25 per hour (+$0.15 per hour)

HAZARDOUS MATERIALS DIVISION – EOS ASSIGNMENT BONUS:

• HMS II employees assigned to work in the Emergency Operations Section shall receive a 5.5% bonus.  Replacing the current temporary ARB.

OVERTIME:
SECTION 2.

Employees in the FPEA I, FPEA II and SFPEA classifications may:

• Elect to receive compensatory time off (CTO) in lieu of pay at the rate of 1 ½ hours for each hour worked over forty in one workweek.
• Accrue CTO to a max of 120 hours. CTO in excess of the max cap will be compensated as provided by FLSA.
• Elect to receive CTO in lieu of pay, at the straight time rate for all non-FLSA overtime worked.

SECTION 3. USAGE OF NON-FLSA COMPENSATORY TIME

• Employees shall not be directed by Management to take CTO without at least 10 days’ notice or be denied a timely request to take such time off.
• CTO accumulated by employees not used during the calendar year in which they are earned may be carried over one additional calendar year.
• CTO time not used in the given time period will be paid at the straight time rate rather than lost.

For 603 & 604 members we will be sending out ballots for your ratification vote on January 6th with votes to be counted January 22nd. After that date the Board of Supervisors will then approve the contract ratification at their next scheduled meeting.

Coalition of County Unions Reaches Sweeping Fringe Benefits Agreement With Significant Enhancements
Summary of Tentative Agreement

After more than nine (9) months of bargaining for a successor Fringe Benefits Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), on Monday, Dec. 14, the Coalition of County Unions reached a Tentative Agreement (T/A) with the County of Los Angeles on a sweeping contract that includes significant enhancements in paid leave – vacation and holidays – and in the County’s negotiated contribution toward your health and dental plan, The Choices Plan. Highlights include the following:

TERM: Three years. The Fringe Benefits contract is effective retroactive to Oct. 1, 2015, through June 30, 2018.

CHOICES: The County has agreed to increase their contribution toward the Choices Plan to cover any increases in medical and dental premiums (any amount over can be taken home as taxable cash). By 2018, your annual allowance will have increased by as much as $4,130 ($344 per month for families of 3 or more).

The County has agreed that if they are unable to process the negotiated increases by the January 2016 premium payment, they will retroactively pay the increase.

HOLIDAYS: After many years of demanding the addition of Cesar Chavez Day as a paid holiday at the bargaining table, the County has finally agreed that – beginning in 2017 – Cesar Chavez’s birthday shall now be a paid holiday and celebrated on the last Monday of March. This is the first NEW paid holiday in 30 years!

VACATION ACCRUAL: In honor of your tenure with the County of Los Angeles, the County has agreed with our demand to increase vacation accrual for members with 20 years of service an additional twelve hours per year (eight hours per year for 40 hour employees) to a maximum of 60 hours per year (40 hours for 40 hour employees) additional hours of vacation with 24 years or more of service.

Thank you again for your support and willingness to let us battle it out and bargain to attain this contract with the extra items that have been so hard to deal with in the past years.  We know we are not done and we feel that our participation in the past Board of Supervisors elections have made an impact on our voice being heard on the 8th Floor (BOS offices).  We look forward to the 2016 BOS elections and continued progress at the County Board of Supervisors. 

Los Angeles County Firefighters IAFF Local 1014

Representing over 3200 Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers,
Pilots, Wildland Firefighters, Forestry and Health Haz Mat personnel

Season’s Greetings brothers and sisters of 1014! This holiday season finds our membership stretched thin, especially in the firefighter rank, resulting in difficulty for some Cardfiles to fill vacancies under normal staffing procedures. Similar to the recent fire weather "augmented staffing" days, this has contributed to an exceptionally high number of recalls in certain battalions. The situation that we find ourselves in is a direct result of the lack of preparation and planning by Human Resources and Fire Department management for entry level testing and promotional stagnation resulting in unprecedented vacancies.

Due to the current and predicted high number of vacancies, Local 1014 has reached out to the Department to develop temporary and non-precedent setting solutions to help ease the burden to our members that are experiencing excessive recalls. Local 1014 will continue to meet with the Department to bring new and innovative ideas from the Membership and the Executive Board. Collaborative efforts have led to the implementation of an early fill date for Thanksgiving, as well as an early lifting of the overtime cap. 

To ensure consistency in all battalions with the staffing procedures for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, the Department and the Union have agreed to the following procedures:

Prior to recalling personnel back to back for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Battalion Cardfiles shall utilize their recognized Sister Battalions for recalls after all members up for recall on the shift and affected battalion have been exhausted. 

If the Sister Battalion cannot fill all requested recall positions, then the positions shall be returned to the original Cardfile to be filled with battalion personnel even if this requires back to back recalls.

This is a temporary fix to help our membership through the holidays. Your Executive Board understands the sacrifices that we all accept to serve in this noble profession that we all chose. We believe this gives our members the best chance to spend one of the days with their families and celebrate the holidays. Encourage your newer personnel to step up and work that spot for the veteran or the members with children. Volunteer, get somebody out of a recall if you can, go available, it will be remembered and appreciated for years to come! This is a great time to show people what "Brotherhood and Sisterhood is all about! These terms means a lot in this profession and are certainly inclusive of everybody that dons the uniform and wears the “Bear” with pride.

The solution to our current staffing state of affairs is adequate hiring predictions, paramedic school predictions, promotions, retirements, specific regional needs, seasonal fire weather, etc. We would all like to think that our managers and HR staff has considered all of these factors and has planned accordingly, but clearly this is not the case. Labor is determined and dedicated to work with management to find short and long term solutions to not only our staffing problems, but many other issues that are currently plaguing this fine Fire Department. We will continue additional staffing talks in January and we welcome your recommendations at the next General Membership meeting January 12, 2016. Our next regional meeting will be in Calabasas on February 9, 2016 with details to follow. 

Thank you for working together as a membership to help each other out.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Los Angeles County Firefighters IAFF Local 1014

Representing over 3200 Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers,
Pilots, Wildland Firefighters, Forestry and Health Haz Mat personnel

Happy Thanksgiving
Local 1014 Brothers and Sisters

Simply, it is time for us all to take a breath, reflect and appreciate the blessings we have. Our Membership is the heart and soul of the Los Angeles County Fire Department and we have been working hard and getting it done like the true professionals we are. We are the best in the west not by accident, but rather because our tradition and passion for what we do fuels our work unlike anywhere else in the Nation. We are trained to think on the fly and make it happen and do more with less and do it well. We are a proud team and rightly so.

Similarly, we have all worked very hard in our Union world to land an extremely rich contract for the next 3 years. Local 1014 membership has come together time after time to stand in solidarity and protect and advance our job in every way possible. It is clear we have a few challenges with management and their work product in payroll, entry level and promotional testing, staffing and hiring new firefighters for relief of recalls. We know we have much to do before the year ends and we will be back at it next week finishing the fringe contract and auditing payroll to ensure all raises, bonuses and retro pay have been correctly payed. However, take today and this weekend to pause and count our blessings. Give thanks for all we have, give thanks to all who protect our freedom and our Great Country.

Whether you are at home today with your family, or at work with your other family...our family...recognize how fortunate each and every one of us are to be a part of the Los Angeles County Fire Department and Local 1014. Thanks to all for your service and dedication to the job and to the Union. "ONE BADGE, ONE BEAR, ONE SHARE!" Be SAFE and SMART as you celebrate this great Holiday...don't risk your job.

In Thankful Solidarity and Unity,

YOUR Local 1014 Executive Board

Los Angeles County Firefighters IAFF Local 1014

Representing over 3200 Firefighters, Paramedics, Dispatchers,
Pilots, Wildland Firefighters, Forestry and Health Haz Mat personnel

PAY TABLES

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