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Brothers & Sisters,
Today, Friday March 17th, the Irish and virtually every other person in the land will be celebrating St. Patrick's Day. On behalf of the Executive Board, we wish everyone a safe and Happy St. Patrick’s Day! May you have the luck of the Irish today!
As you celebrate St. Patrick's Day please take a moment to prepare and protect lives and your job. If you are going to drink alcohol, remember line up a designated driver, get a cab, or get a room. Don't put your life or your job in jeopardy. Celebrate responsibly.
“Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig dhuit!” which means “St Patrick's Day blessings to you!” |
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FIGHTING TO PROTECT OUR HEALTH HAZMAT WORK IN LA CITY
Our brothers and sisters at Health Hazmat are under fire from the LA City Fire Department.
For decades, our LACOFD members have been committed to providing hazardous materials inspections throughout the County in a CUPA Certified Unified Program Agency (CUPA) program. These inspections happen throughout the County, even in cities that do not contract services with our great department. One of these cities is the City of Los Angeles, just another city in the County.
On Thursday, a public hearing took place with LA City Fire to spearhead a full takeover of inspections in their jurisdiction. This takeover will affect positions in our membership and a financial loss for permit revenue somewhere in the $8 million range.
This is the time for solidarity, we stand with our brothers and sisters in Health Hazmat and together Local 1014 and our Department are fighting this takeover. This is not just about the money from our coffers, it is about protecting the work of our members. We will keep you updated over the next few months as the fight continues. |
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HIRING OUR FSA’s - DOING THE RIGHT THING
On Tuesday, a packed house of FSA’s attended the 1014 General Membership Meeting. Supported by their Foremen and 1014 members Jason Ramos from Camp 8 and Chad Mueller from Camp 9, and led by Camp 8 FSA’s Miles Dorsey and Eric Tran, our FSA’s came to advocate for something easy to support: that the Department do the right thing. These FSA’s were among those who entered the Camps via the Firefighter Trainee list, with the implicit assurance that after putting in their time in the Camps, they’d earn a shot at the Firefighter Trainee academy.
For many former FSA’s who are now firefighters in our ranks, this path worked splendidly. Unfortunately, 57 of their brothers were lost by our Department’s bureaucracy – literally forgotten about. At least 50 more entered the Camps through the FSA test but also took the FFT exam and currently sit on Band 1. Our Department has moved to expire the old FFT list and hold a FFT-Paramedic Exam without 1014 support and without using the FCTC process that is advocated by 1014 alongside our brothers and sisters in the Stentorians and the Women’s Fire League.
Meanwhile, they’ve moved to push through a Recruit Class 170 with only seven individuals from the Camps, the rest being hires off the street who will not be required to pass a Beep Test or demonstrate any level of physical fitness, despite the list on which they sit being four years old. As this list has continued to age, a lack of physical fitness amongst candidates has led to the highest academy wash-out rate in memory. In Recruit Class 169, only 31 graduated of the 51 who were there on Day 0. Each one of those wash-outs represents tens of thousands of lost dollars and a missed opportunity for someone who might have cared about the job enough to prepare.
We could easily continue down this path, crossing our fingers and hoping for different results. Or our new leadership could forge a new trajectory. We have in our camps system a group of our Department’s hardest workers. Male and female, from a hugely diverse array of ethnic and economic backgrounds, they’re united by one thing: their proven ability and willingness to work hard day in and day out on some of the most physically demanding jobs our department has to offer. There are enough FSA’s on currently on the FFT list to fill at least two full academies, if not more. Moreover, these are candidates who we know have the fitness and grit to pass the FFT academy.
We call upon Fire Chief Marrone to exercise Leader’s Intent, a concept that every FSA on that list knows by heart.
What is the Task? To hire the best, most diverse candidates as Firefighter Trainees with the LA County Fire Department by providing written offers of employment as Firefighter Trainee to every FSA currently in Band 1 on the Firefighter Trainee list.
What is the Purpose? To fulfill the Mission of the Department: to protect lives, the environment, and property by providing prompt, skillful, and cost-effective fire protection and life safety services.
What is the End State? To have a cohesive team that looks like the communities that we serve, but distinguishes itself by performing at the highest level, so that our residents know from every interaction that their LA County Firefighters are the best in the business. |
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CANCER STUDY UPDATE
LA County and Local 1014 continue to lead the nation in the fight against cancer and contribute to the research needed to fight is epidemic.
In the coming weeks, those of you that provided urine samples during the 2019 fire season as part of the Firefighter Cancer Cohort Study will receive an email from the University of Miami giving you the option to receive your personal/private results sent to the email address you provided when you enrolled in the study. These results will quantify exposures to products of combustion, and additional details will be provided in your personal report. Note that these results are research data collected to develop an understanding of our exposures in the line of duty and are not clinically actionable, but if you have any concerns about your health, please consult with your primary care provider. Your personal results are confidential and stored in a secure coded format and have not/will not be shared with anyone other than you and the approved research team.
These results were delayed by national lab closures during COVID, but Capt Jamie Gabriel and FFS Derek Urwin have continued to work with academic researchers around the country to conduct research that examines our exposures to carcinogenic agents and the associated biological effects. A comprehensive study update will be forthcoming in the near future, and an article was recently published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine that can be reviewed here.
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UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION WITH THE UNION
To ensure that we maximize our outreach efforts to our members, we will send out a survey regarding the staffing changes soon.
In order to ensure that all Local 1014 members can access the electronic survey, please update your contact info with the union at the link below. If you have people in your station who do not receive the Friday Update, please encourage them to sign up on the website so we have all members' email and ensure fair access to the survey. |
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In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
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