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.