|
|
Brothers and Sisters,
This week, President Gillotte, along with President Brian Rice of California Professional Firefighters, joined over 80 Fire Chiefs and subject matter experts from throughout California to discuss the recent wildfire events in Southern California. Wildfires like the recent Palisades, Eaton, and Lake Hughes Fires are not new to Southern California, but a community / urban conflagration spreading fire from house to house in a dense community, overwhelming the local water systems and firefighters with such focus to take entire neighborhoods, is new.
Firescope is a group of fire chiefs and fire leaders from throughout California who come together to provide recommendations and technical assistance to the Office of Emergency Services (OES), authorize and implement all aspects of ICS and the Multi-Agency Coordination System (MACS) used in disasters and major fire incidents in our state. In coordination with these recommendations and the work of the California Professional Firefighters, legislation and governmental advocacy move forward on our issues. Much like the “Blue Ribbon" Commission of 2003 post-wildfire recommendations and advocacy for resources are in full swing. Speaking with a unified voice, we can get things done that need to happen; without a unified voice, we will fail to get the funding and some changes to our preparation, response, and recovery efforts following our urban conflagrations.
The meeting was held over two days at the Pasadena Rose Bowl, and many after-incident actions were discussed and embraced. Preparation and pre-deploy issues including a frank discussion on water systems, not more water, occurred with solutions like gridding off water systems and adding generator-supported mobile pumps to aged community systems as part of the talk. Also, pre-deploying an army of water tenders throughout the Southern California area and areas like San Diego and Ventura and North to San Fransisco was also proposed with public OES and State water tenders and perhaps even a public-private partnership on contract for additional private large-scale water tenders.
Code enforcement issues for house and occupancy hardening and vegetative landscape parameters were also discussed with State Board of Fire Services to propose that houses on the leading edge of the interface be required to harden with construction types and clearance and vegetation that will give firefighters a chance to save the neighborhoods. A combination of house hardening and neighborhood planning, water supply systems and water tenders, and apparatus and equipment with firefighters can make a big difference in neighborhoods as we saw at the fires—a big part of the funding conversation centered on staffing but also the equipment.
The next step is moving the recommendations forward to the Governor and the State Legislature to get commitment on the funding in an already sparse state budget. This work will be intense, and both the Fire Chiefs and Union Leaders will need to be in step and coordinated on our efforts to succeed in securing what we need short-term and long-term. |
|
CAL FIRE WORKS TO CONVERT SEASONAL FIREFIGHTERS TO PERMANENT FF POSITIONS
Coming of our collective work to get Cal Fire to a 66-hour work week from a 72-hour work week, and on the heels of the fires, Cal Fire launched an ask to move seasonal FF positions to permanent FF Positions. This is a healthy ask that will require billions of dollars in funding, and we will support the move along with all CPF locals, but we also will be in line working to ensure that our Contract County dollars move to us as well in the request.
We have covered SRA area since the beginning of time, and while we are a “Contract County”, our service on the SRA dirt in LA County has always been ours. As such, we get a contracted amount from the state for our contract to provide not only wildfire, but structure fire and all hazards service including EMS, and we will be working to ensure the dollars are right and flowing back into LA County post-fires. In addition, the Contract Counties receive state dollars for everything from Crews and Aircraft, and we will be working to increase those dollars for our Contract Counties. While much work is to be done, working with our elected officials, we are seeing gains in increasing our Contract Counties' numbers and have assurance our inmate camps will be kept funded and intact for the foreseeable future.
We will continue to work to convert them to paid camps and crews, but this funding announcement will allow us some time without losing crew size heading into next year. This affects Cal Fire Crews also and is great news.
UTAH FIREFIGHTERS LOSING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING RIGHTS
As we reported last week, our brothers and sisters of Utah Firefighters IAFF Local 81 in Salt Lake City and all Utah Firefighters were dealt a low blow when a narrow Senate vote of 16-13 passed HB 267. It now heads to the Governor for consideration. This Bill does not eliminate Unions in Utah, but it repeals collective bargaining rights for Firefighters, teachers, nurses, and all working class jobs in Utah.
This means no right to bargain for binding MOUs and no protections for things like Salary, Retirement, and Healthcare. Governor Cox of Utah now has the bill, and Utah’s FFs are working hard to encourage a VETO of the bill. Local 1014 stands in strong support of our Utah FF’s and has worked with CPF to communicate that an injury to one is an injury to all.
Firefighters work hard to earn and give our support to those who back our needs, and we do it in both parties, but for those who do not support us, we will make sure they understand our endorsement and our work to have a relationship with the folks we serve is not taken lightly nor for granted. |
|
NEGOTIATIONS - NUMBER ONE PRIORITY FOR THE LOCAL
On February 13th, the Firefighter bargaining table gets back to work. Your Local 1014 bargaining team will begin meeting with the County CEO and Fire Chief Representatives again to bargain a successor MOU. We are working on an aggressive Cost of Living Adjustment for any years we settle for, and for Post-PEPRA needs for our post-Jan 2014 members for healthcare and Ventura items, as well as specialty unit issues.
We bargain our salary table and fringe benefits separately, and fringe is handled with all Unions through the CCU. That table is also open where retiree health care, health care premium contributions, dental, vision and holidays and vacation issues are also handled. We are aligned with all public safety Unions and working closely with ALADS, PPOA, and LACOLA, representing the Sheriff’s Deputies and Officers and Lifeguards. We will keep you informed as we begin to claw into the table now that the fires and the impact of the all-hands-on-deck situation have calmed.
We look forward to negotiating a fair and just contract to sign another MOU to protect our members and our families into the future.
CAPTAINS ACADEMY MOVES FORWARD
The long-awaited process to vet and train new Captains is back underway with the first class of 30 set to start in February.
This process, under the homeless initiative, allows departments to hire and promote outside of DHR and the standard process, is temporary and will be evaluated to see if it works. Still, we expect that a 6-week training program that candidates must pass will be a new and improved way to prepare and select Captains going forward. Good luck to all who have stepped up to prepare a resume, get down for the oral interview, and worked to be part of the classes.
Local 1014 is well aware that promoting so many Captains will put a strain on the Engineers' rank, and we are actively working for solutions to address it before it becomes a problem. Stay tuned, and good luck to all moving up the promotional ladder. Prepare, engage, and work to make each of our ranks the best they can be.
|
|
In Solidarity,
President Dave Gillotte and the Local 1014 Executive Board |
|
|
|
|
|
|
