Friday Update 12-16-22
Updated On: Jan 03, 2023


 
Brothers and Sisters,


As we prepare for the end of 2022 and heading into Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, we are busy right up until the end working on so many things that affect our members and our families.  Your Union Executive Board will be bargaining right through the weekend Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday trying to move the needle on year three funding to strike a deal by Tuesday December 20th, the last BOS meeting for the year.  

This is the pressure cooker final four days to strike a deal or potentially seek a “strike” sanction from the Federation of Labor and head into official impasse and a 3rd party mediator.  We will do everything we can to meet the County on terms that protect year three funding and also meet our interests in all aspects of a fair contract including the COLA.  We appreciate the meetings and the help from the BOS to push the CEO and us to a place where we have a shot at getting this done before the holidays.  We are also meeting with the Interim Chief this weekend to work on joint support for the plan, and we will let you know where he lands on this, but to this point and now needing public and outward push, he has been supportive.

If for some reason we do not strike a deal, and we head into impasse on the 20th.  Work to the Rule and official LA Federation of Labor actions begin with the House of Labor supporting in a strike sanction approval that will not result in a strike from us, but rather from any and all other Unions that touch our work.  Teamsters, SEIU 721, and all County workers will not “cross our line” and this will impact the Department heavily in supply chain and more.  We are doing everything we can to avert this path of travel and the CEO and the FC have their part to do to avoid the fire. 

Understanding how difficult this has been on the Union and our members, with your Board up all hours of the night, meeting each week under high stakes high pressure circumstances with the BOS, the CEO and the FC, and our members who have been on the front lines working their asses off throughout it all.  We have found some very uncaring and disconnected officers in our ranks who have failed to support their troops.

The small handful of you that think this is foolish and we hurt ourselves with work to the rule couldn’t be more wrong. The department is feeling it. Now is not the time to take our foot off the accelerator. Let’s push down harder. The individuals not working to the rule are only hurting themselves and their fellow brothers and sisters. Here is an email example of a whole station working to the rule.
 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE EMAIL


As we are in the midst of a battle for a fair and equitable contract for all of labor, we are continuing to be amazed at some of our so-called leaders from management that continue to ask us to volunteer for projects. We have been made aware of instances of flat out dishonesty to our members by management telling our members that “the Union has bought off on this”. The Union has not bought off on anything that is outside your daily scope of duties. We have not bought off on any so called “working groups” that are being sold as going to make our station lives better. There are instances of battalion chiefs coming into to stations and telling our people that target solutions “shall be” 100 percent completed by division inspection.  

For some that are not aware, every hour that we spend doing target solutions brings money into the department for various things. In essence, this manager is requiring us to bring money in for a department that doesn’t value labor enough to give us the same contract that he/she has. Where has our leadership gone? Isn’t a leader’s job to protect and support his people. It’s what our captain’s in the stations do day in day out for 24 hours a day. Apparently management is functioning out of another playbook than we are. If you have any question about what you are being told to do by management, reach out to any union board member for clarification. We now have to be aware that there may be integrity issues with some of our management. 

We must stand united, do what we do every day, respond to calls and provide the exemplary service that we always have to the best of our abilities. We are all tired, worn down, missing our families and these are just more examples of management trying to kick us while our morale is already low. We need management to step up and stand united as one department, not us versus them, which unfortunately seems to be coming clearly into focus. After all, they will be enjoying their holidays with their families and their new contract while we finish our fight to get ours done. 

Remember this is also only an issue because of year three finances and the uncertainty of our revenues, a budget that MANAGEMENT is in charge of.  The Executive Staff collectively, all of whom have been here through the last administration should be embarrassed and ashamed of their work on the budget apparently with crayons and construction paper.  If you are not willing to put in the time on behalf of those you manage, much less choose to be a leader, then simply point its time for LACERA.  If you have any questions give us a call.  Hang on tight as we head into Tuesday Dec 20th and the last BOS meeting of the year. 

IAFF WELLESS FITNESS INITIATIVE 

On other fronts, positive work continues as we head into the holidays.  LA CountyFire / Local 1014 is one of the original 10 Departments and Unions who came together with the IAFF and the IAFC to establish the Wellness Fitness Initiative jointly.  The WFI is a total health system with our physicals and time for workouts and integrated behavioral health, cancer studies and data collection, sleep study work and more, designed to be a guide and standard to help departments support firefighter health.  Many firefighter's lives have been saved due to the program nationally and certainly within our Department.  The following Departments and Unions met in Washington DC to begin revising the WFI for the 5th edition incorporating the latest data on cancer, cardiac issues, behavioral health issues, and sleep and total firefighter health concepts of wellness.  

  • Austin, TX Local 975
  • Calgary, AB Local 255
  • Charlotte, NC Local 660
  • Fairfax, VA Local 2068
  • Indianapolis, IN Local 416
  • Los Angeles County, CA Local 1014
  • Metro Dade, FL Local 1403
  • New York City, NY Local 94 and Local 854
  • Phoenix, AZ Local 493
  • Seattle, WA Local 27


Thank you to Brother Phil Working FFL Captain, Fernando Montes Exercise Physiologist, Dr. Derek Urwin - Brother and PhD Cancer researcher, Jamie Gabriel - Sister and Cancer Cohort Study Partner, and Chief Marrone for helping to coordinate the heavy lift on all fronts along with our national partners.  

New information and edition 5 will be forthcoming from our work. One highlight is the concept of proactive behavioral health with clinician check-ins and coaching once a year with annual physical to have 15 minutes or so with a culturally competent clinician just to check in and see how you and your family are, and to help you understand the benefits and tools and resources you have access to for you and your family if needed.  This is a path Local 1014 is already pushing on in bargaining.  Stay tuned!  So many good things evolving in the firefighter health arena. 


 

CANCER PRESUMPTION VICTORY FOR OUR FEDERAL FIREFIGHTERS

Local 1014 always reaches out and helps those other Fire Unions that need our assistance. Our Federal brothers and sisters called and we joined them in hosting Marty Walsh, the Secretary of Labor appointed by President Biden at the Alfred K. Whitehead Labor Center, our Union Hall, to discuss federal cancer cases and the possibility of pursuing a cancer presumption.  

The IAFF and all our affiliates have been fighting for this in DC each and every year for the last 20 years, and Secretary Walsh moved this forward light years by discussing the details of the exposures, the treatment and systems failures facing our federal brothers and sisters.

In a day long of work at our Union Hall, Secretary Walsh and his team in partnership with the Federal FF Team figured out and administrative path to immediately “effectively” implement “presumption” with approvals and paths to get treatment.  This in itself was an amazing victory. Secretary Walsh promised to turn this into law and make it permanent beyond any leadership and true to his word, in the NDAA - National Defense Authorization Act and for the first time in history the Feds will be entitled to presumptions when stricken with cancer.  The Senate passed this bill that now moves to the President for signature.  

We thank Secretary Marty Walsh, the Senate Leaders and the President in advance for this very historic and important work.  Local 1014 is so proud to have stood with the 16th District Federal Firefighters and the 5th District CPF Federal Firefighters in this victory. 


Finally, in preparing for the year's end when times can be difficult for some, our amazing PEER Support team met over three days to finish training and prep for the end-of-year needs and reviewed the issues facing our members, worked to ensure resources are in place for clinicians, secondary needs medical help, peer support dogs, and of course, worked with the amazing and firefighter whisperer Dr. Steve Froehlich on addressing some of the most critical plans for our members and families in their times of need.  

Thank you to the team, the LEADS and PEER Captains in both Fire and Lifeguard and Civilian and retired sections of our family for always putting in the time.  Serious talk was also in play about Department support and resources to continue with our program with the obvious at hand, will the Chief support funding Dr. Steve in the next two years, as the Union has paid to have him as a resource for the last two and thank goodness we did with all we faced.  The Department, while credited for all they have supported, is at a crossroads with regard to firming up the Wellness Division with permanent positions and structure that will last long beyond all of us for our members.  We will keep you posted on how this develops.  


Thanks to all for your resiliency and solidarity and power as one as we finish up this year with both the hard and uncomfortable work and the amazing and positive work in the brotherhood and sisterhood. 

 

In Solidarity We Work to the Rule, 

President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board 
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