LA County Fire Museum

As we all know the Museum is a vital asset to our members, both current and retired. As we saw recently the Museum was able to do an amazing event with Engine & Squad 51 for Noah Cohen, the Make-a-Wish Foundation and our Department to make Noah's dream come true (click here for more information on Noah's adventure).

On May 9th from 0800 to 1400 the Museum will be holding an Antique Fire Memorabilia Swap Meet and Vendor Day. This event will be held at the Museum

Click on the above picture for more information on this worthwhile event.

Please support the Museum as they move forward.

Click here for parking information.

Any questions please contact the Museum at info@LACountyFireMuseum.com

Check iafflocal1014.org or local1014.org for details

“WE SHALL NOT FORGET”

WEDNESDAY May 13th, 2015, 1000 am

ANNUAL LA COUNTY FIREFIGHTERS MEMORIAL SERVICE

LAO HEADQUARTERS AT OUR MEMORIAL SITE

LOCAL 1014 BBQ TO FOLLOW

Sisters and Brothers,

This is a reminder to take time Wednesday the 13th and “Never Forget” our very own Los Angeles County Firefighter Brothers and Sisters who gave all and are forever remembered on our beautiful granite Memorial Wall at LAO.

Break out your Class A or department long sleeve uniform and make time to get to LAO to create a sea of blue along with the LAO uniformed and non-uniformed personnel to support the family members who will be in attendance to remember.

We have seen many tragedies and triumphs in our Department and our Unions history, and we have traveled far and wide throughout the Country to Honor FDNY’s fallen, Boston, Chicago, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Canada, Kansas, Arizona and more. We have formed up and marched and paid our respects with pride as if the fallen Brothers and Sisters were our very own.

Well, Wednesday the 13th is our very own; our Brothers and Sisters from engines, trucks, air squads, PM squads and hospital beds who have given.  While all have given some, some have given all. Those are the folks on OUR Memorial Wall.

Please join Union President Dave Gillotte and Fire Chief Daryl Osby representing Labor and Management along with members of our great Department to shore up and let the families of our own fallen know that “We shall never forget”.  Local 1014 will be hosting an after ceremony BBQ for camaraderie and fellowship and all are invited.

• This year the names of James F. Horton, Janet L. Chatelain, John D. Mazzocco and Darrell Rice will be added to the wall.
• The Los County Firefighters Pipes and Drums will be performing.
• A new addition this year will be the Men of Fire Motorcycle Club in their first Los Angeles County Memorial Ride.  Click here for details.

Thank you advance for your attendance and helping to do the right thing….take a day to remember,

Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board

Check iafflocal1014.org or local1014.org for details

LA County Fire Museum

As we all know the Museum is a vital asset to our members, both current and retired. As we saw recently the Museum was able to do an amazing event with Engine & Squad 51 for Noah Cohen, the Make-a-Wish Foundation and our Department to make Noah's dream come true (click here for more information on Noah's adventure).

On May 9th from 0800 to 1400 the Museum will be holding an Antique Fire Memorabilia Swap Meet and Vendor Day. This event will be held at the Museum

Click on the above picture for more information on this worthwhile event.

Please support the Museum as they move forward.

Any questions please contact the Museum at info@LACountyFireMuseum.com

Check iafflocal1014.org or local1014.org for details

Click on photo for larger version

1014 Members Arrive in Nepal to Rescue Earthquake Victims

Los Angeles County Fire Department’s California Task Force 2- known internationally as USA-2 - Medium Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team arrived in Nepal on Tuesday, April 28th, to assist with rescue and recovery efforts following Saturday’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake.

The 57-member team departed March Air Reserve Base on Sunday night.

The USAR team is part of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) that was deployed upon the request of Nepal’s government. The DART comprises nearly 130 people, including 14 USAID disaster experts, the Department’s 57-person USAR team and a 57-person USAR team from Fairfax, Virginia. The team also includes 12 canines - six from L.A. County.

The team is made up of specialized personnel, and includes all necessary equipment to make live rescues from collapsed structures and confined spaces. The U.S. is currently prioritizing search and rescue activities to help locate survivors trapped in the rubble and the provision of emergency shelter materials to help displaced families.

USA-2 is expected to be deployed for 7 to 10 days and will be conducting search and rescue operations under the direction of the Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART).

USA-2 is one of only two American search and rescue teams that partners with USAID/OFDA to deploy internationally. It is once again a great source of pride for our organization to not only have this highly specialized response capability, but to be called into duty by USAID/OFDA to help save lives and property beyond our borders.

While DART USAR teams are engaged in lifesaving operations, USAID disaster experts are assessing damage in earthquake-affected areas and coordinating response efforts with the government of Nepal and international humanitarian partners on the ground.

In the coming days, USAID will be airlifting emergency shelter materials to Nepal from its warehouse in Dubai to help an estimated 30,000 - 35,000 people.

The UN estimates that the earthquake killed 3,350 people, injured more than 6,800 others, and affected 8 million people across 39 of Nepal’s 75 districts as of April 27. These figures are expected to rise as rescue efforts continue.

We will keep you posted regarding any major developments.

Thank you to the LA County Fire Department for the above information.

Check iafflocal1014.org or local1014.org for details

California Task Force 2 activated and
deploying to Nepal Earthquake and disaster

The 57-member USA-2 (CA-TF2) Medium Urban Search and Rescue team is deploying on April 26, 2015 to assist the United States Agency for International Development’s Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) with rescue and recovery efforts in Nepal following its 7.9 magnitude Earthquake and Disaster. 1014 members left this afternoon from March Air Force Base for Nepal. They are expected to arrive into Kathmandu on Monday, April 27th.

USA-2 (CA-TF2) has partnerships with Federal Emergency Management Agency for domestic response and the United States Agency for International Development/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance during international missions. As a part of the Los Angeles County Fire Department, USA- 2 (CA-TF2) maintains constant operational readiness for international deployments and as a local resource for residents of Los Angeles County and the Southern California area.

Upon request of the Government of Nepal, the United States has deployed a USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), including the Los Angeles County Fire Department Urban Search and Rescue Team (USAR). The USAR component of the DART is what is called a “Medium team,” with 57 specialized personnel and all necessary equipment to make live rescues from collapsed structures and confined spaces.

Please keep our team members, their families and the people of Nepal in your thoughts and prayers!

Again, we are proud of our 1014 members for what they do everyday.

We will work with the Department to make sure everyone is informed on the status of our team as often as possible.  Check back often for updates.

Check iafflocal1014.org or local1014.org for details

Noah Cohen - our brother firefighter

Some of you may have seen on the news recently a story about an eight-year-old boy named Noah Cohen.  Noah has dreamed of being a firefighter for years and in fact his dream is to work for his "favorite Fire Department".  He wants to be a firefighter because he has grown up watching the same show most firefighters watched and had the same dream.  He watches the Show Emergency!

Noah wants to work for our department, the Los Angeles County Fire Department.  Noah wants to be a firefighter on Engine 51.  Unfortunately Noah has been diagnosed with a rare condition called VACTERL association.

Over the past month, behind the scences, 1014 members, Chris Reade, Rick Flores, Randall Wright and Keith Mora have been working with the Make a Wish Foundation to help Noah have the experience only a few have.  Noah and his family have traveled from Vermont a few days ago to experience what it is like to be a member of our department.

Today (and always) Noah will be one of us.  Noah will be a firefighter on Engine 51.  He will also have the chance to experience Squad 51.  Noah will be at LA County Fire Station 127 (the home of the show) at 1300 hours.

He will be there with the original Engine 51 and Squad 51 (thank you 1014 member Paul Schneider, President, LA County Fire Museum).  He will experience what it is like to walk in to the station and see what he has watched on television for years.  He will experience what people from around the world have only dreamed of.  He will get to do what we do as LA County firefighters everyday.

This will be a great day for a real hero.  This will be a day that Noah and his family will remember forever.  He has been doing the tourist things these last few days but to Noah, today is really all he wants.  He wants to be a firefighter on Engine 51.

If you have the opportunity to join Noah and his family today PLEASE do.  Help make his experience more amazing.

Join us at Fire Station 127 at 1300 hours.  The address is: 2049 E. 223rd St, Carson, CA 90810.

Check iafflocal1014.org or local1014.org for details

Your Local 1014 Executive Board has come together nicely and while there will be no shortage of work, these past two or three weeks have been extremely taxing on us all. The membership feels the tension and can clearly see the smoke in the air as we do battle day after day with the Department right now on so many issues. We are also dealing with negotiations for both salary and fringe benefits, the Auditor Controller and Fire Chiefs investigation, and a media circus regarding exams and alleged nepotism, EMS Issues, and of course LA-RICS and the cell towers, and more. Well, here is a little update on things as we head into the week of April 20th....

LA-RICS / CELL ANTENNA ISSUE:

Victory in hearing our Voice! While we are not quite done yet, it can be said we WON! Local 1014 did what most said couldn't be done: we battled great odds and a multi-billion dollar adversary to have not only our voice heard, but the voices heard of so many concerned citizens. While we remain supportive of a National Interoperability Radio and Data System, we could not stand idly by and let health and safety concerns be overridden by a quest to simply leverage our fire stations as the cheapest way to go, regardless of the risk. The citizens in the neighborhoods also awoke literally to property value decreases of 21% and other such issues involving the communities.

We made our voice heard strongly in a campaign to lobby the City Council Members of our great cities, the Citizens we protect and serve, and the County Board of Supervisors. We allied with our communities and the leaders listened and heard our concerns and joined with us to do the right thing. Construction was halted on all fire station sites and the federal grant was suspended for LA-RICS until they put together a revised plan for cell sites that DOES NOT INCLUDE ANY FIRE STATION OR FIRE FACILITIES THAT HOUSE OUR PERSONNEL. Similarly we worked with UFLAC Local 112 to garner the support of their elected officials to support our issues and the same will now apply in LA City.

We are not quite done with all of this yet and we will be heading to Washington DC this weekend, at the same time the Board of Supervisors, Fire Chief, and Sheriff. We will speak to our Congressional Members, Senate Representatives and officials from the grant offices to ensure our interests are protected in any revised plan that is approved. We will also be there to lobby in support of continued federal grant monies, but to assure that the system moves forward incorporates health and safety, as well as citizen concerns, in the plan. IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger will also be with us on the issue and our work could very likely help protect firefighters in fire stations throughout the nation.

We will keep you updated as we move to finish this fight, and for now THANK YOU to all of you who stepped up and helped with this fight. You attended rallies, sent letters, signed petitionsmade phone calls and sent e-mails to put pressure on the elected officials to do the right thing. THANK YOU to all of our citizens who were there with us when it counted, and THANK YOU to the elected City Officials and all 5 of the County Board of Supervisors and their staff who worked tirelessly in support of our path to address our concerns. It is unfortunate that the Department and the LA-RICS Board did not address these issues early on and continues to try and move in a direction without true stakeholder interest collaboration with the firefighters and the citizens, but that is changing rapidly for them now. GREAT WORK LOCAL 1014! More to come; stay tuned.

REGIONAL GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING - SANTA CLARITA

On Tuesday, April 14, Local 1014 was on the road to Santa Clarita to host the first regional meeting of 2015. The Santa Clarita Elks Lodge #2379 graciously donated their facility for our monthly General Membership Meeting, and went above and beyond to provide us with a "Made to Order" top notch lunch! Although the bar was closed, our brothers and sisters were wound up with plenty of coffee and world famous Randy's Donuts prior to the meeting!

We were pleased to host several guest speakers from the region, including Supervisor Michael Antonovich's Chief of Staff Katherine Barger, and Santa Clarita City Council Members Dante Acosta and Laurene Weste. These strong supporters of Local 1014 all spoke about their respective offices and they were all key allies in the fight against the LA-RICS LTE cell tower health and safety issue for our membership. Assistant Chief Hisel held a question and answer session from the floor and will report all of the items discussed to Deputy Chief Tripp. We want to thank the 60+ members that showed up and had plenty of good questions for the Board, generating some great conversation, dispelled rumors, and provided direction to specific concerns. The Executive Board provided updates on the status of LA-RICS, current testing process, negotiations, LA Times articles, Auditor Controller investigation, Fire Chief, pension attack, budget, discipline, Board of Supervisors, and other operational issues affecting our members.

Thank you to all who participated and we look forward to bringing the membership more regional meetings in the near future.

NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE

The 1014 negotiations team continues to meet with the County to bargain over our wages, hours, and working conditions. Our next meeting is scheduled for Monday, April 20.

We have agreed to meet every Monday unless one side requests more time. Last week, the County asked for an extra week to review our initial proposals. At our next meeting, it is anticipated that we will dive more into our proposal and possibly get a counter proposal from the County. As a reminder we will continue to update our 2105 Contract negotiations update page at local1014.org

While 1014 continues to negotiate a successor contract for our 601/602 bargaining units, the Coalition of County Unions (CCU) - where we negotiate for common fringe benefits like Choices, Horizons, and paid leave - had our first bargaining session on Wednesday, April 15. In this initial session, we agreed to Ground Rules and reviewed the Coalition's initial proposals submitted to the County. The County representatives asked certain questions and we agree to meet again on Wednesday. April 29.

The CCU includes the following labor organizations:

• AFSCME Local 685
• AFSCME Council 36
• ALADS
• CAPE (County Engineers)
• CIR/SEIU (Interns and Residents
• IUOE Local 501 (Operating Engineers)
• LA County Building & Construction Trades Council
• LA County Firefighters, Local 1014
• LA County Lifeguards (LACOLA)
• UAPD/AFSCME (Physicians & Dentist)

AUDITOR-CONTROLLER INVESTIGATION UPDATE:

As you all know the Auditor-Controller has conducted investigations of some of our members based on information delivered to a newspaper reportedly by a member of this Department. The Fire Chief ordered this investigation to be done. Members were interviewed individually with all their employee rights allowed by law under Firefighters Bill of Rights (FBOR). After a few rounds of interviews the Auditor Controller issued a report. Based on this report the Fire Chief has begun to issue discipline.

A report based on the next round of interviews will be issued in the near future. Based on that report, the Fire Chief may again issue some levels of discipline.

These investigations will potentially continue. 1014 has demanded that those people who oversaw or had any management responsibility for the exam process not be immune from the investigation.

Our members have asked for, and received, representation from 1014 before, during and after these interviews. The law is very clear when discipline is issued and we are making sure that those laws are upheld. Every member has rights and we are protecting those rights.

This process will be long and ongoing. Our members will need 1014 support to protect their careers. We disagree completely in the actions the Fire Chief has taken. This process is far from over.

We ask that you respect these members that are going through this process. Don't contact them, or their crews, and try and get information from them.

PENSIONS WILL BE UNDER ATTACK AGAIN IN 2016

Three "has-been" anti-pension crusaders - termed-out San Jose Mayor

Chuck Reed; failed mayoral and congressional candidate/talk show host Carl DeMaio; and the head of the Ventura Taxpayer Association, Dave Grau, who lost an anti-pension initiative there - are planning to place a measure on the 2016 ballot to change the California Constitution and remove public employees from the protection of the contract clause.

This would effectively make it possible to take away future pension benefits for active employees firefighters!

To learn how to talk about pensions and get the facts, please visit a great website called Let's Talk Pensions run by Californians for Retirement Security, a coalition of more than 1.6 million Californians representing public employees and retirees. And be sure to follow Let's Talk Pensions on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.

Have a great week, and stay safe as we tackle high temps, wind, and fire weather again. It is no secret that we are in strained times with the Department leadership and there will likely be some very adverse and highly volatile issues and actions ahead of us. These times will test our resolve, strength, and commitment to what is right and what it takes to ensure that right is what is done. We will lead, and the membership will fight, and we will win. We have a long-standing history of being problem solvers and warriors to ensure OUR FIRE DEPARTMENT AND OUR PROFESSION is in good stead on all levels. If that means stepping into the management end of things on how we run the Department, then so be it.

We thank you in advance for your resolve and commitment to not only handle our Union work on so many levels, but also to help this Department find level ground and move back toward being a world class Fire Department with Professional Fire Fighters and Fire Personnel - A FRANCHISE ORGANIZATION that stands the test of time through the pride and dedication of our personnel. We all do great work daily and it shows in our partnership with our citizens. Stay the course and do great work and get ready for more fight as we put this place back on track.

In solidarity,

Your Local 1014 Executive Board

Check iafflocal1014.org or local1014.org for details

1014 weekend update

Passover, Good Friday & Easter

Brother and Sisters, as we begin Passover, finish Good Friday today, as well as look to Easter Sunday where many of our members will take time to remember great sacrafice followed by great hope, we should all take time to reflect on, and be thankful for, all we are blessed with as well as remeber our hard work to get here.

We are members of a GREAT Union and a profession unlike any other. We are also members of the greaest Fire Department in the world because of you, the membership of Local 1014. During these times of EXTREME leadership challenges in our organization, we can see some shining stars that are not on the front lines but are there to support us every day. We should all be thankful for them.

We will continue to shore up the Department to get through these difficult times and move forward to even greater accomplishments and recognition. As they say "We too shall over com.". As we continue to band together as firefighters, please remeber those we are here to protect: the citizens of Los Angeles County. We do that on such a high level everyday. At time it goes un-noticed or un-recognized, but we are thankful for what YOU do every day.

These are just a few items to update you on, and start your weeken of reflection with family and friends:

FRESNO FIRE CAPTAIN PETE DERN UPDATE:

LOCAL 1014 has been in close contact with our brothers and sisters from Fresno Firefighters Local 573 and President Pete Flores regarding help for Captain Pete Dern who, as you all know, fell through the roof and was severely burned on a house fire in Fresno. President Gillotte and President Flores will remain in close contact and our Local will be assisting not only with help for the Dern Family but also to help their Local through these times with sudden obligations that hit a Union already engrossed in the same financial and political battles we all have.

We have experience and resources to assist our Fresno Firefighters and we are making all of that available. More will be forthcoming next week. In the meantime, we encourage our membership to go to the Fresno Local 573 Webpage and link to follow his progress and to send any help you may be able to offer to the account set up for his family. We will keep him and his wife and daughter in our thoughts and prayers each and every day as we travel this journey with them.

Remember this could have easily been one of us. If you havent seen the video watch it here. Just a reminder: It is tough to watch but it is a reminder of the challenges we face everyday on any "routine" room and contents fire.

LA RICS UPDATE AND OUR BATTLE TO PROTECT OUR HEALTH AND SAFETY:  

Local 1014 Members should take a moment and be proud of our work to shine a light on the failed LA-RICS Project, Together, we brought to light the embedded lack of due regard to our members and to the public by the LA-RICS JPA Board and- shockingly - our very own Fire Chief and Staff. Those who drove and supported this failed project flagrantly disregard critical Health and Safety Issues, as well as property value and community value issues where Cell Antennas were being installed into our Fire Stations and in our communities.

Local 1014 scored major victories with a 5-0 vote of the County Board of Supervisors to Halt Construction at all Fire Stations in the County of Los Angeles and to reassess the effectiveness and path of travel of the LA-RICS scope of work to create an interoperable radio system.

Thank you to Supervisor Mike Antonovich for taking the lead on this and hearing our very credible arguments on this subject. Supervisor Antonovich bravely dove into the matter and gained the support of all Supervisors who also valiantly have pressed up on LA-RICS and all of the issues to shed light on what would have been a covert operation in the cover of darkness from us and our citizens.

The Fire Department’s role in this is shameful and hurts our credibility with the very citizens we are sworn to protect. We are working hard to not only repair but further collaborate with our citizens as we move forward with next steps.

We also followed this victory up with a collaborated effort to help LA City Firefighters join the battle to protect their members and citizens. President Gillotte and President Frank Lima of UFLAC 112, along with our partners from the LA Federation of Labor and all organized Trades under the leadership of Executive Secretary-Treasurer Rusty Hicks, successfully lobbied a 12-0 vote to similarly halt cell antenna construction at all LA City Fire Stations while LA-RICS mission is evaluated and set straight as well. This was a tremendous lift for our union and a great partnership once again with two very strong powerful local unions - Local 1014 and Local 112 - to accomplish that what many said could not be done.

Next steps will be ongoing to ensure credible and integrity-based actions from LA-RICS and or any movement to radio upgrades that will ultimately put us back on path to what we need for our mission.

Thank you to all of our membership for your continued support on this item. Let us finish strong and do what the Department should be doing on items like this.....TIME TO LEAD!

INTEGRITY AND CORE VALUES AND OUR DEPARTMENT IN THESE TIMES:

As we continue to endure the effects of lack of leadership at the top end of our Department and inaccurate portrayals of our membership in the media and at the hands of our very own Fire Chief, we will also continue to protect our membership and the credibility of our Department through proper representation of the facts and actions of our members.

We have recently seen our Department drug through the dirt on so many fronts, and while some issues exist that must be recognized and will be dealt with appropriately with due process and fair judgment, to make a bridge to cheating scandal and inappropriate mentoring and study sessions and nepotism and so forth is absolutely irresponsible by our Fire Chief and Staff. The facts are not supportive of this in any way, and in fact the only failure at this point is to recognize that the very staff and person in Human Relations and under the Fire Chief’s "Watch" inclusive of the Business Operations Bureau of our Department is in a state of disarray currently and historically.

We will be lucky to get through the current testing process with the oversight of Roxanne Ortega and the Human Relations Staff under the Oversight of the Business Operations Bureau and Fire Chief as evidenced by the release of ET-127 indicating, “Everything is A-OK” with the current testing process. Where is the Department getting their facts and information on how it is going???

We will be updating you with more information on this in the very near future as we deal directly with the County Board of Supervisors to ensure a light is shed on all aspects of the HR Staff work on this and past exam processes under scrutiny and investigation.

Along those lines, as our doors get knocks from our at risk youth and community members including explorers, mentored women candidates and family and other very interested persons - and we are told to close the doors and refuse any on duty time to help the community - please use Core Values and direct the folks to the Union Hall. We will assist them with finding resources to prepare for the exam and to work hard toward success in the process.

The Department is lacking completely in any form of preparation or resources for any of our citizens and has chosen simply to run and hide from this to appease outside interests instead of addressing Department Mission and Goals for recruiting the best and the brightest in a career that only affects the life and safety of those we serve. It is time to highlight the failures of the Department HR and Business Ops side of our organization who ultimately, under the Fire Chief's authority, owns this work outright....

NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE SALARY AND CCU FRINGE:

We have now met for a second time and have scheduled meetings once a week (and agreed to more if needed). Our next meeting will be held during the week of April 6. This week we intended to get right to work and start serious discussions about our wages, hourss and working conditions.

As we have mentioned before we are also about to sit at the table for our Fringe contract with the CCU. We will be meeting the week of April 13 to begin those negotiations.

We again would like to request you complete the questionaire at this link to assist us with negotiations at both tables. Currently about 80 of our members have completed this survey. Please take a moment to complete the survey to assist us.

As a reminder, follow this link for the weekly update on negotiations.

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING APRIL 14TH, ON THE ROAD IN SANTA CLARITA:

We will be on the road for the April General Membership meeting. We will be holding the meeting at the location listed below. We will be discussing the following (and more):

Meet new Board Members David Baumann & Mike Jones
Katherine Barger - Supervisor Mike Antonovich's Office
2016 Pension fight
Cell Tower update
Santa Clarita officials to discuss Cell tower issue
Barb Maynard - Communication Consultant LA RICS Project
Negotiations update
Recent FFT exam
Fire Chief & other issues within the department
News Media
Chief Hisel for North Ops Q&A

Your Local 1014 Executive Board would like to take a moment to remind our members to take time to prepare before you celebrate if you are going to drink or serve alcohol. Have a plan. Take caution in your decisions this weekend (as always).

As always, thank you for your continued support, enjoy the holiday, and most importantly stay safe. Remeber to hug your loved ones often!

Check iafflocal1014.org or local1014.org for details

A lot happening right now!

We realize you have been inundated with informative e-mails lately; hopefully you are not overwhelmed. Your Executive Board is handling many issues right now and we want to make sure you are well informed.

The last two weeks have been exceptionally busy. We have received many communications regarding the video message that was transmitted to all members, the many disappointments regarding the first part of the new hire test process as well as EA-120. We continue to deal with the cell tower issue and the Auditor Controllers investigation that was brought on by a newspaper article that was generated by a member of our Fire Department.

We want to make sure every one of our members understands that your Executive Board is committed to protect every member's rights. Your Executive Board will be there everyday, as we have been since the beginning of this great Union, to represent you at every avenue. We will be there for health and safety issues, discipline representation, negotiations and anything else that has to do with wages, hours and working conditions.

As we have said many times in the past, it is our honor to represent you everyday.

Cell towers

As we reported Tuesday night, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to halt construction of cell towers at any County fire station where either the residents or the employees who live and work at that station have expressed health and safety concerns. Construction should have stopped, as per ET-119, immediately at your station. If you see any ongoing construction, please call Local 1014 immediately to file a report. The contractors may be on site to secure the construction site but again NO construction should happen.

With hundreds of millions of dollars in Federal funding - and a huge private contract - at stake, there is still a possibility that construction will be restarted. We will stay vigilant in our demand that no toxic towers be constructed at our fire stations. To accomplish our goal, we are continuing to educate contract cities and pressure the Board of Supervisors. We are also providing support to our brothers and sisters at LA Fire - represented by UFLAC - who also oppose the LA-RICS towers at their stations. We will be educating our allies in Washington, D.C., who had good intentions when providing funding for this project but were kept unaware of LA-RICS' sneaky attempt to circumvent environmental regulations by installing the towers at our fire stations.

We will keep you all apprised of ongoing developments.

Cell tower information can be found here or by logging into the 1014 website and follow the link on the left hand side under member resources titiled cell tower information.

Click on the links below to see some news coverage of the cell towers.

Negotiations:

We recently had our first meeting and will be having our second meeting the week of March 30th. We are scheduled to begin negotiations together with the Coalition of County Unions (CCU) for Fringe Benefits (Choices, Horizons, Plan, etc.) on April 15.

As we have said we have high hopes for these negotiations and we will be at the table with creative ideas. We all know that we deserve a salary increase and we look forward to working with the County to meet our needs as well as theirs.

Contract negotiation updates can be found here or by logging into the 1014 website and follow the link on the left hand side under member resources titled contract negotiations update.

To help with upcoming negotiations (1014's and the CCU's) we would ask you to please follow this link and fill out a short survey. This is a secure site and your personal information will not be shared.

EA-120:

As we said earlier, we will make sure our member's rights are upheld. EA-120 affects some, but not all, members of 1014. If something affects ANY members of 1014, there is a process of Meet and Confer to issues like this, and that process has not happened. We will be addressing this with Chief Osby VERY soon.

ET-127:

You may have read this transmittal in regards to the testing process. We have heard numerous complaints about the entire process and the lack of integrity of the exam process. All we can ask is that you please continue to send any and all instances of missteps that happened to you and we will make sure those are passed on to the appropriate people. We are not interested in what you heard, because we too have heard some horrible stories, we need to continue with the facts of what happened. We have complied an ever-growing list at this point but are interested in hearing how our members, and people that they know were affected. Please continue to e-mail your experience’s to info@local1014.org

Auditor Controller:

As we all know by now, there has been accusations of cheating on the Fire Fighter entrance exam, especially the oral portion, from past exams dating back to 2007. The Auditor Controller has interviewed less than 40 members of Local 1014. As we all heard recently the Fire Chief had made some serious threats in relation to the intended discipline of our members. Rest assured, we are prepared for whatever course of action he takes. At this time the Fire Chief has only told the new media what he plans to do in the near future. Rest assured we will be there for our members as we have been in the past and we will continue to do in the future.

Thank you for your continued support.

Check iafflocal1014.org or local1014.org for details