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Brothers & Sisters,
First 2024 Meeting with Fire Chief
Local 1014 President Gillotte and Vice President Carcioppolo held the first meeting in 2024 with the Fire Chief and Chief Julia Kim to address issues. We have been on the mend and working to achieve staffing and funding levels that will allow LA County Fire - Local 1014 to shine once again. We also discussed our ongoing work on workers comp, funding, budget issues, and Measure F.
The three topics for our first meeting were the following:
- 48/96 Trial Shift Schedule Proposal
- FSA Hiring from the FFT List and FSA Internal Promotional Processl
- Entry Level Hiring Process and our journey to get FCTC written and Oral Interviews
The Fire Chief heard our final compelling arguments on the 48/96 Trial Shift Schedule proposal and will address the membership directly next week. We will respond in kind once he makes his decision on the trial public. Remember, at this time, with budget issues and Measure F in play, we would need the Fire Chief’s support to implement the Trial with BOS approval, and if we don’t get it, then we reserve the right to go after the Trial directly. Still, we would not tackle that until our Fire Measure is passed and our budget is secure.
The number one issue for us all right now is the budget and funding of not only our year three raise but also the direction of our department as a whole. We will work with the Chief to receive his formal and final decision and coordinate his direct message to the membership and our response as we head into next week.
We have worked hard to get the FSA members who came to the camps from the FFT list and were nearly left behind by the department when the list died without any offer of employment. We filed charges on the department, met with the Chief, and worked to resurrect the list and get conditional job offers to our FSAs from the FFT list. We are now negotiating to get them formal job offers and tower dates. We also address the “Bridge” Internal Promotional Process, which we put in place long ago to have a mechanism that defines an allotted amount of internal promotional process spots with FSA as the core. We have an agreement on terms, and we will work to get them from a tentative agreement to policy in the coming weeks. The FSAs from the FFT list have been accounted for and will be placed formally into towers. We must also secure the budget and calendar for at least four, maybe five, drill towers in 2024.
We have a tentative agreement on terms for an in-person oral interview with two captains and one HR person for the next entry-level exam. We must collaborate with DHR on some of the parameters, and ultimately, we are working on a weighted interview in person, but the first step in that path is to set a selection interview with our members and HR handling the questions and assessment for selection to enter our tower. This, along with our efforts to move the BEEP test into the entry and background and recruitment process, will leave no question as to the quality of candidates.
We want to thank the Chief for his support and Julia Kim’s efforts to restore integrity and process to our program. We are on our way, and we look forward to an announcement of our next job testing sometime early this year. It has been a complex and layered process to get this approved and in place with civil service, DHR, and the County. We look forward to continued evolution to a system everyone can be proud of and have confidence in.
1014 Director Jason Cervantes Appointed to LA County EMS Commission
Brother and Director Jason Cervantes, a seasoned Fire Captain and former Paramedic, was appointed by the Board of Supervisors (BOS) and sworn in as a Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services Commissioner. The Commission acts as a policy advisory committee for the BOS and the Director of Health Services regarding County policies, programs, and standards for emergency medical care services. This has a direct impact on our EMT and Paramedic programs and policies. This is a 4-year term appointment, and his work begins this month, along with work on the CPF EMS Commission concerning state policies and programs affecting our EMT and Paramedic regulations.
Some of the topics the commissions will be working on are the Santa Barbara County ambulance dispute with a private ambulance trying to secure transport rights and lock out the County Department, AB 40 Implementation, and the impact on our Paramedic Disciplinary Review Board where a mix of our folks, hospital folks, and doctors will stand together to review disciplinary issues for the state. We look forward to the work ahead to protect and advance our EMT and Paramedic Program.
Contact Jason or anyone on the Board if you have any suggestions or ideas about EMT and PM policies and procedures. Thank you to Jason for your work along with our Directors on the Local 1014 Board who handle EMS issues.
LA County Fire District Measure F on the Ballot in 2024
Finally, as we move into 2024, politics and political action with legislative advocacy matter for our profession and our job directly with the County of LA, we can not simply wish for things to happen or for voters and selected to be supportive of our membership and our profession. We must work within the political system to earn every vote of the citizens, every vote of the BOS, every vote of the City Councilmembers in our cities, State Legislators, and Governor.
As you are aware, our funding has not been addressed with any new sources of revenue in over 30 plus years. We are going to the ballot in November with a 6-cent property tax assessment with protections for the over 55 low-income communities. This measure will generate between $150 and $170 million and move up with the rise in property values.
This critical initiative will go before the votes in November of 2024 unless adopted by the BOS and will require Local 1014’s efforts along with alliances from other labor unions and elected officials. We garner that alliance and effort by working together on various issues at the state and local levels.
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