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| Our members are back at it as wind-driven and hot weather fires popped in Malibu and Ventura this past week. This highlights our need for funding and resources and staffing increases to carry out our work in the communities we serve. Thanks to all the brothers and sisters at work, out on the front lines, and in the dispatch center, the camps, and the offices that support the work in the field. |
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LOCAL 1014 LA COUNTY FIRE MEASURE E PASSES!
Your Union - LA County Fire Fighters Local 1014 took on the task of going to the people to secure the first new funding for our Department in decades. After a hard-fought campaign, we passed Measure E! We are extremely proud of the membership's support and our work to bring our needs for apparatus, equipment, infrastructure, and staffing to our communities and gain their support for resources to better serve them. We have a responsible plan for revenue and a secure Fire District funding stream that no outside entities can touch. We built a coalition of support at every level and had the support of all of our communities, Republicans and Democrats, to complete this mission.
This funding was critical to move our Department back into position to upgrade our engines, trucks, and squads, fix fire stations that are falling apart, upgrade our dispatch system, and move our Department to 4-0 staffing on every engine over the next 5-10 years. Generating nearly $150 million a year, we will have the resources to move a well-crafted plan forward with the Department with the priorities outlined and supported by both the Department and the Union.
We received support from all five Board of Supervisors on our measure and our partners with the LA County Federation of Labor, the LA Democratic Party, the League of Cities, and Contract Cities with no organized opposition against us as we crafted our dynamic outreach to the communities we serve. It was an expensive project with digital social media commercials and print mail outreach to each district and all contract cities. Coming off of the Department and BOS last try with Measure FD, it was daunting. There was much risk, but ultimately, your Union Executive Board assessed the risk, the benefit, and the plan and moved our work forward. |
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We want to thank the public we serve for their support. We are committed to ensuring the money is spent wisely and for the purposes intended with the oversight of our Department's managers as we move the work forward. We would also like to thank our political partners in The Strategy Group, Poloma Public Affairs, and Kaufman and Associates, working at the heart of the operation, and our very own outstanding members who stepped up to be in our videos and print campaign as we carried our message to the district residents.
We would like to especially thank Johnny Gray, Alexis Kendricks, and Assemblymember Freddy Rodriguez for serving as our ballot proponents and all our members who were featured in the campaign, including our ballot proponents, Paco Lomeli, Tony Hyguan, Mike Andersen, Tony Carcioppolo, and Katana Perez. And also, all our members who showed up to volunteer during the signature-gathering phase to walk the streets and talk to voters. THANK YOU!
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We will keep you informed as we begin meeting with the Department to allocate and agree upon the path of priorities for 2025 and beyond with a brighter and better fiscal footing.
Additionally, Local 1014 was very successful in candidate campaigns for state representatives and local City Council races throughout the County and District, with the high nineties in our success rate of elections. Political Action matters to keep officials in seats who support the LA County Fire Department and Local 1014’s members in our work.
Thanks again for all you do to support the effort to keep our outstanding Department and members in good hands and with the resources we need to do our job. |
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We are far from done as we begin the daunting and ever-increasing task of fixing the work comp system failures, where over 350 of our members are off work and not in seats for various reasons, but it is unsustainable. The bottom line is we need our members healed, healthy, and back in the seats they own on the engines, trucks, and squads. The vacancies created by the Injury Leave is the main and only issue keeping us from full staffing beyond the current promotional process debacle that we are also fixing. In addition to getting our members back to work and reducing the recalls and lack of access to benefit time, there is an associated $100 to $225 million more in savings with folks back to work. These numbers DO NOT INCLUDE THE PLANNED 100 -150 MEMBERS WHO RETIRE EACH YEAR.
We will also continue to look for ways to get general fund county money infused into our budget for things like apparatus and equipment and lawsuits that the fire district has to settle each year or fight in court. Similar to the Sheriff’s Department, we seek money outside of our regular budget for such actions, and a line item for Fire within the County is an option with $30-50 million a year that could be realized with this plan if we can gain support.
Thank you again to all. We should all be so proud of this historic and generational funding that Local 1014 and our Membership secured for our Department, as this is truly a moment in time that will forever change the course of our future. |
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NEGOTIATIONS OPEN FOR BARGAINING UNITS 601/ 602 FIRE FIGHTERS, FIRE SERIES MEMBERS AND FSAS
Local 1014 has been preparing to bargain for our contracts that expire at the end of 2024. Local 1014 met with the County CEO and Fire Chief Staff to begin our formal deliberations and negotiations.
The process of bargaining is legally laid out in California Collective Bargaining and Local County Ordinance through the Employee Relations Commission (ERCOM), and as the legal representative for our bargaining units, we sit across for the CEO with the Fire Chief as Subject Matter Experts for the CEO. The County brings in many staff members from the CEO and HR and Comp., and the Union has attorneys and financial data experts. We begin not only to bargain over our robust proposal items but also to analyze and agree on budget and expense numbers for said items. The Fire Chief, in addition, can bring items to the table to bargain over.
President Gillotte is our Lead Negotiator with Vice Presidents Kobler and Carioppolo and the Executive Board each having a role and responsibility for items in the proposal. Our firm, Adam Ferrone Ferrone, a well-respected labor law firm, is with us in crafting and negotiating all the items at the table. Our proposal contains Cost of Living Adjustment, Post PEPRA Member Items like longevity and retiree medical trust contributions to level the playing field for PEPRA law issues, and individual unit issues like specialty bonus items as well as across-the-board specialty item issues and also behavioral health and cancer and fit for life items as well. We bargained over ground rules of bargaining establishing the path and form of our work, and outlined impasse procedures should we not strike a deal in a timely manner, as well as began the tedious and complicated task of verifying budget numbers both expenses and revenues for our department.
We will be bringing in general members and financial experts as subject matter experts as we bargain over specific issues like specialty bonuses. We will also be involving the new Executive Board Members in the process to educate them and bring all members of your Board to the table for succession planning.
In addition President Gillotte is also serving as the Co-Chair for the Coalition of County Unions - all county unions as we begin bargaining for fringe benefits. This will turn out to be a busy end of the year as we work to bring our victory on the measure to the budget conversation and secure a new successor MOU for our members. We will update you as the process moves, and we will begin bargaining once each week with the CEO. We will not rest until we have a fair and just successor MOU for your consideration. We partner with the other County Unions to set the COLA and Partner with the Sheriffs and Lifeguards on public safety items of similar need in each of our respective membership needs. |
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We are pleased to announce our first-ever Plan-C retirement planning webinar. This is available to all Plan C members and is hosted by President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board.
PLAN-C RETIREMENT PLANNING WEBINAR
Friday, November 15th from 1-3 pm
Click below to register for the webinar and submit questions about your retirement ahead of time.
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By now everyone should have received your 1014 Election Ballot. If you have not, please contact the Union office immediately at 800-334-6285.
Remember:
- Ballots must be postmarked by U.S. Postal Service and received at the Post Office Box by 10:00 a.m. on Monday, November 25, 2024, in order to be counted!
- No hand-carried ballots will be accepted at the Union Hall or at the Post Office.
Ballots will be counted on Monday, November 25th by California Elections Company (CEC) and results will be posted to the web and sent to stations and sites.
Thank you in advance for your vote and your voice. As always, stay safe and take care of each other.
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In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
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