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Brothers and Sisters,
Yesterday, twenty-four of our LACOFD teams faced off for a day of fun, competition, and fire family! It was a perfect day that reminded us yet again that we are all on one team as we serve the residents of LA County.
Congratulations to Fire Station 116 in the gladiator's battle for LA County’s top softball title at the 2023 Bear Classic! Station 116's name will be forever on the Bear Classic Trophy. Job well done! All the teams had great games and fun, with trash talk at an all-time high and laughs for all. The tournament was held at the West Covina Sportsplex, where MLB stadiums are recreated, framing the fun and excitement of our battles. A rock climbing wall and soccer and football games with water balloons provided a fantastic place for our kids to play hard.
Thank you to our Union Board chefs, who worked the BBQ to churn out 400 hamburgers, and to the B&W, who doubled that with hot dogs. Thank you also to our fire wives with Every Day Superheroes and Rad Wild Brave, who showed up to provide cool things for the kids.
Finally, thank you to the Ortiz Family with Ruben Ortiz, who had a passion for the BEAR CLASSIC! We cannot thank you enough for your inspired vision to bring the Bear back!
The theme of the event was “FIRE FAMILY." All that is good in our profession and on our job was on full display in a day of fun and camaraderie. See you next year as we keep this well-established tradition alive! COUNTY! BEAR CLASSIC! |
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Union Department Labor Management Committee Summit Meeting
This week, Local 1014 hosted a labor-management meeting for serious discussions, ideas, and solutions. It has been some time since we have had an offsite meeting where badges can be set aside while we tackle the most serious and pressing issues facing our Department and our Union, and, ultimately, our members and the people we serve in our communities.
Many issues were discussed with highlights on our Department's budget, staffing, hiring and Drill Tower standards, FSAs, Contract Cities, Dispatch staffing, and Labor / Management communication (View full agenda here). Essentially, the Department gets its act together on budget and operational priorities with data and plans to back it up. We use our political power and legislative advocacy to support said plans and priorities. We also work together when funding is down, or issues arise that need to be handled, such as in El Monte and La Habra with other contract cities needing a rework.
The budget discussion centered on the joint acknowledgment that we have a $60 million deficit over the next three years if we don't correct the course. We also acknowledged that with a $1.6 billion budget, there are many tools on the expenditure side and the existing revenue side that we can use to fix this problem and that with property tax revenue on the rise longer term, even with a slight recessionary next few years, that the future is bright with our hard work.
There were many ideas from both sides. For example, Eleni Papas and her staff, who have been working on contracts and major capital expenditure projects for radios, communications, and dispatch systems and advocating for more dispatch staffing and ways to get there. Jon O'Brien on state funding for camps and crews. Jason Cervantes, who channeled BC Gunther and Wellness Chief Gonzales energy in our “Get 50 Members Back to Work” project that saw net 27 back and some back to light duty resulting in staffing increases, money saved, and members happy. We meet to drive Sedgwick this month with their high-end managers coming to get our collective instruction on properly handling our work comp claims to expedite and provide good treatment. Much work is needed, but this is the ongoing and important part of correcting what has been happening. Partnering with treatment facilities will also be a task to get good treatment and service with agreed-upon rates that pay the providers fairly and consistently. For example, Kerlin and Jobe, we have worked hard to bring this partnership into play. These provider relationships don’t happen by magic but through negotiated hard work. Special thanks to the Return to Work office, who are all over helping the members who need it and want it for starters in the RTW world.
Also discussed were hiring, drill tower, probation, and promotions issues, including Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, and FCTC. It was agreed that the input of new members is the first step in hiring members who will service us well long into the future and the glue that binds is quality of candidates and diversity of candidates. The two are not mutually exclusive and can be blended into our system to net the desired results. We will not shy away from this conversation on both fronts and support the work to create hiring, drill tower, and probation system we can ALL be proud of. The Beep test and the concept of active recruiting and testing through the FCTC are examples of potential items to improve the system.
Finally, our Labor Management Committee on the 48/96 Shift Schedule Trial Proposal met for the final time during the last hour of the meeting. As promised, we have a deadline for the Fire Chief to either embrace the trial or oppose the trial. The best outcome will be a negotiated agreement with joint support. Ultimately, that will make the trial and the data collection and analysis of whether it works or not successful. We also linked the Trial to staffing levels. Both Labor and Management recognized and agreed that no matter what schedule we have, including our current schedule, full staffing, reduced recalls, and the ability to use benefit time are critical.
We want to thank Tony Carcioppolo, Kurt Kobler, Jason Green, Chief O Brien, Chief Papas, and Theresa Berrera for serving on this committee and putting in the time to review all data, logistics, operation issues, and more related to the proposal to ensure President Gillotte and Chief Marrone had every question answered, every point made in consideration of the Trial. The Fire Chief promised a decision by August 3rd. We will report back to the membership as soon as we hear.
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Annual Retiree Recognition Dinner
This week, the Fire Museum hosted, Department organizations sponsored Annual Retiree Recognition, a huge success as hundreds of retirees from our great department descended upon the amazing facility in Bellflower housing our Fire Museum. The Museum Board of Directors was the core to get this rolling, and with Benefit and Welfare and PEER Support pulling in leads to get things set. This annual event was a hit! Thank you to the Pipes and Drums, Honor Guard, Department and Fire Museum Docents, and Widows and Wives who provided the horsepower to make this happen. As always, the Department's resident photographer and retired Captain Mike Kusaba, thank you for most of the images we all have to remember this amazing day.
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Finally, this week we want to share our work with the California Professional Firefighters, our state Union. The CPF Board met over two days to handle issues of Legislative advocacy, chasing Assembly and Senate votes and Governors' signature on issues affecting our members' health, safety and retirement. Wall time and PTSI, including public safety dispatchers, are of high priority as well as wildfire funding for our camps and crews. Take a look at all legislation here. We will keep you posted as we move toward the end of the legislative session and disposition of our bills.
Also, our Fire Foundation Board met to go over issues affecting our disaster relief work and our Save Card program, where private money we raise goes to the citizens we serve and to our very own members, and issues affecting our California Fallen Firefighter Memorial Service. We worked to ensure all the names of the fallen and their family's needs are prepared for and ready when we gather in October to “Never Forget”. We also worked on the expansion project to allow our amazing memorial to handle all fallen firefighters in the future and to become an interactive experience bringing life to the names on the wall. Stay tuned as we launch this new project to honor our own.
Also of note is our Dan Terry Scholarship program with our very own Joshua Habell, son of Wayne Habell, receiving the recognition in memory of his father's aid for school. Congrats Joshua! Rene Elkins, widow to Dan Elkins and one of the most amazing humans, mother, and Fire Family members, took time to interview about the Fire Foundation and the Memorial and what it meant to her. Thank you for your brave candor and time to help others understand and to help us never forget. |
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REMINDER: We are calling on local artists and those in our fire family to submit proposals for a permanent art installation to be installed at Station 81. This art installation is meant to not only provide a remembrance site for our Brother Tory Carlon, but also provide a place of healing for those most impacted by this incident and a reminder of the importance of our Fire Family and behavioral health in the fire service.
The art project will be installed at LACoFD Station 81 in Agua Dulce. The project must provide 1) a memorial and remembrance for Brother Tory Carlon, 2) emphasize the importance of our Fire Family and 3) provide a reflective space that emphasizes the importance of behavioral health in the fire service.
While we will be accepting submissions from the local community, we will give preference to members of our Fire Family who submit projects.
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In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
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