FRIDAY UPDATE
Brothers and Sisters,
FLSA Lawsuit Settlement
This week, Local 1014 members received communication that a settlement has been reached in the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) lawsuit against Los Angeles County. Local 1014 as part of the Coalition of County Unions (CCU) has been working together with the law firm of Rains, Lucia, Stern St. Phalle & Silver to move as a group our collective body of individual claims. Over the past year, Local 1014 led the communication effort with the membership and moved the filings through the Union Hall to aid claims. The first two suits were filed on behalf of Deputy Sheriffs Thomas Ferguson and Miguel Ortega, subsequent claims were filed by our members and members of the CCU and coordinated through our outreach. Local 1014 along with the CCU fully endorses the settlement, which will require the County to recalculate overtime from August 2015 to take into account cash in lieu of health benefits.
What this means is that because of your union’s efforts, the County has paid or will pay a total of $27 million in recalculated overtime, $7 million of which is being paid to those in the lawsuit. No attorney fees will be paid by anyone who joined the lawsuit as the Court will order the County to pay the fees.
This has been a long fight for Local 1014 and the CCU to get our members the money they are due. (See attached letter for a full history of the lawsuit and previous Union communications on this lawsuit from 06/16/19, 10/26/18, Fall 2018 Nozzle, and 08/16/18)
If you did not join the lawsuit, you’ve already received your supplemental payment and there is nothing more for you to do. If you joined the lawsuit, you need to formally accept the settlement by following the instructions on the attached flyer prepared by the attorneys handling the lawsuit.
If you have any questions about the settlement, please visit the lawsuit website https://www.laovertimelawsuit.com/ or contact the law firm handling the case: Rains Lucia Stern St. Phalle & Silver at 747-221-7100.
Christmas Eve/Christmas Day Staffing
As we stated last week, Local 1014 has been hard at work trying to eliminate back-to-back recalls for our members this holiday season. It is not lost our Executive Board, all of whom are also subject to recalls, the impact that our staffing shortage is having on our members and their families, especially during the holidays. We have been working around the clock to try to ensure members are not recalled both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
We are pleased to announce that as a result of our effort on the Labor-Management Staffing Committee, and due in large part to the Union fighting for temporary and long-term staffing solutions, we were successful for the over the overwhelming majority of our 3,200 members. Only eight members in three battalions have been recalled for both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
We are reaching out now to our Union brothers and sisters to ask that anyone who has both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off and is willing and able to work consider volunteering for one of these individuals. We would like ALL of our members to have the opportunity to spend at least one day at home with their families.
Battalion 1
- FF Lisa Reinheimer
- FFPM Mike Anderson
- FFPM Clark Wilmoth
Battalion 7
- CA Pat Sweeny
- HMFF Dequindre Goines
Battalion 5
- FF Justin Neese
- FF Gregory Berger
- FF Kevin Romero
If you are willing and able to work one of these spots either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, please reach out to these individuals directly or to the Battalion Card Files.
IAFF Media Awards
Local 1014 comes in BIG at the International Association of Fire Fighters Media Awards! We are pleased to announce that Local 1014 placed in all submitted categories for the IAFF Media Awards.
Out of hundreds of entries from both the US and Canada, Local 1014 won second place for Best Public Relations Campaign (Safety Stand Down/Behavioral Health Campaign) and Best Special One Time Project (Pound for Pound, Strongest Around Poster). We also won honorable mention for our quarterly publication The Nozzle (Fall 2018 Edition).
These awards recognize Local 1014 as a leader and an innovator in the nation for membership communication, political action, and public relations. The IAFF Media Awards recognize Firefighter Unions for their best work in communicating with their members and the public, and for portraying professional firefighters and paramedics as dedicated all-hazards responders. The IAFF Media Awards Contest helps create a greater awareness of the work IAFF members in the United States and Canada do to keep the public safe. We would also like to thank our partner Poloma Public Affairs for their work on all three winning projects.
Have a great weekend. Stay safe and take care of each other.
