FRIDAY UPDATE
Brothers & Sisters,
This month we are busy with a flurry of work before we enter into the holidays and prepare for the new year. I think we can all agree we are ready for 2020 to be over and done. We know that the impact of COVID-19 on our world and on our workplace will not simply vanish. We have more work to do to find “normal” in any sense of the word.
COVID-19 is a serious disease and has had an appreciable impact on our membership with Fire having the largest numbers of COVID-positive workers in the County. We have been fortunate that we have not lost anyone to this illness, but make no mistake we have had many members and their families hit hard. The politics and emotions surrounding this pandemic and the impact of shutting down businesses are real and not to be played down, but the consequences of this disease are very real as well.
Our own 2nd Vice President Dave Morse has been gracious enough to share his story regarding the impact of COVID on his family. Please take a moment to read Dave's testimony. We must do what is necessary to keep everyone safe. While this disease may not severely impact most of us, it certainly will impact some of our family members who are vulnerable. We must take precautions both at work and at home to stay safe and protect not only ourselves but those who may not do well with this disease. Thank you to Brother Morse and his family for sharing their powerful testimony with us.
LOCAL 1014 BARGAINING UNITS 601 AND 602
The Firefighter series contract expires at midnight on December 31, 2020. We have put in place all protections to work on a month-to-month basis with the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) authority and we will do so until we have negotiated a successor agreement. We also have our Coalition of County Unions (CCU) contract for fringe benefits in place and are working with our Labor partners to negotiate a successor agreement for benefits. MOUs are the legal protection for our wages, hours, and working conditions and we want to get back into a new MOU sooner rather than later. We will only accept a fair successor agreement.
You may have already read the Sheriffs have agreed to a one-year extension of their MOU and the County is certainly moving to put everyone into one-year successor agreements. However, Local 1014 has continued talks with the County solely with the intent of forwarding progress on a few post-PEPRA issues for our newer members. Longevity in rank and health insurance are the main items we are addressing at the County level. We are also taking up a few more things like retirement age and Ventura issues at the state seeking legislative change on behalf of those issues.
We will continue to negotiate through the end of the year and maybe into January. We are not in the same situation as the Sheriffs who need to rush to get out of the storm and into safe MOU harbor. We have issues that we must address formally and we have ongoing discussions and negotiations with the Board of Supervisors and the Fire Chief. We look forward to a fair and forward-moving outcome in the near future.
We also will be working on the budget crisis with the Department, and while our property tax returns long term look very good, the 2-3 year forecasted and budget is not a good picture. You have heard the Department talk of curtailments and cuts, and while we certainly will be containing cost inefficiencies, and addressing the skyrocketing costs of OT and workers compensation, there is also the revenues and budget management issues that need to be addressed. We are meeting weekly with the Department going over budget and expenditures to ensure that our priorities are in play with staffing as the number one priority. These discussions will be painful and direct, but it is the only way to solve problems regarding the budget. We are working to provide solutions, but also to hold accountable those in charge of managing and maintaining a nearly $1.4 billion machine.
California Professional Firefighters 2020 Convention
This week your Executive Board worked hard with our local Fire Union affiliate leaders to lay out our priorities at the state and federal level to advance and protect our members' interests through legislative advocacy and political action. Having the support of the elected officials at all levels of government is the only way we can protect our members' interests. The state convention was held virtually this year for the first time in our history. We are adapting like everyone else to social media and tech tools to get our work done.
CPF President Brian Rice called the convention to order on December 10th and we took up 31 Resolutions regarding fire funding, cancer testing, post-traumatic stress injury coverage, EMS issues at EMSA and LEMSSA levels, due process in industrial injuries, wall time reimbursement from hospitals, and more. Your Executive Board members each served on committees earlier in the week and each committee took up the resolutions for consideration. In committee, the specific details and issues involved are debated, evaluated, amended, and either supported or rejected to then go before the floor and the entire delegate body for debate and votes. Local 1014 was once again very prominent and involved in all the work with the experience we have as an affiliate. See convention resolutions attached.
In particular, we are proud to have brought our Public Safety Dispatchers into the mix in Resolutions 19 and 20 – regarding Crisis Referral Services Programs and Workers Compensation for Post-Traumatic Stress Injuries. Every member of Local 1014 matters and is a priority for our board. President Gillotte co-chaired the Legislative Committee and with our CPF legislative staff, we put together the plan and path for the next two years of work at the State Capitol. One of the most important committees, the legislative team worked to reach consensus on all resolutions with amendments to help better protect and advocate for all firefighters in our family to include municipal, county, city, federal, and state members.
We will continue to update our membership as we begin the grueling work post-convention. Through power and solidarity, we can rise to unbelievable heights like we have done every legislative session. As was the case with our COVID Presumption Bills last year which we crafted and passed with the Governor's signature in record time. Stay tuned as we get moving.
Thank you to the entire Executive Board for their hard work this week on behalf of the membership. We also included the two newest members of the TEAM of TEN, Mike Cash and Tony Carcioppolo, who were able to watch and learn from our work at the Convention this week. State legislation and partnership with all Local affiliates is an important part of our work. We will be orienting the new members of the Board and getting them up to speed and trained to hit the ground running in January. We look forward to the contributions of the two newest members of the team.
As always, stay safe and take care of each other.
