All. It is with a heavy heart that I have to report to you on the final temporary agreement (TA) that is being submitted to you the membership for a vote. By now all of you have seen the announcement from President Lopez on the details of the proposal. It is important that I express to you the gravity and the issues surrounding this proposal and the impact on all of us. Let me start with some recent background. Last week brought intensive negotiations between CAL HR and the leadership of CAL FIRE L-2881. By Tuesday night in an urgent conference call the bargaining team was asked to vote on rejecting this most recent proposal or allowing it to be considered by the membership via a state wide vote. It was the consensus of the bargaining team that this proposed (TA) is the best that we could hope for and no subsequent negotiations will yield a better deal this calendar year and bargaining session. Therefore, the proposed (TA) is in front of you for your consideration and vote. below I would like to offer to you by bullet points the benefits and negative impacts of this proposal. Benefits: 4% GSI to all BU-8 members effective January 1,2015 6.1% additional GSI to the FFII classification only. This would be retroactive to July 1, 2014. The union retains the right to reopen the contract during the 2015 calendar year on pay. Impacts: Compaction is now simply moved up the classification range creating a negative impact on both the FFII/P class as well as the FAE classification. The class differential between a firefighter II and a firefighter Paramedic will now amount to $37.00 per month. The FFII class will now be at about the second step FAE range. This (TA) compound compaction into two separate classifications. (FFII/P, FAE) This (TA) creates a divisive environment between employees in different classifications. This (TA) does nothing to address our inequity in pay. This (TA) does nothing to address a structured approach to attain pay parity with our counterparts in local government. This (TA) drastically demoralizes the paramedic classification by removing most of the financial incentive to maintain 2 professional licenses and 8 additional certifications and standards. This (TA) is essentially the same Cookie Cutter approach given to most other state workers. This (TA) provides no real hope into the future. This (TA) has the most severe impact on RRU as the majority of affected classifications reside in our unit. This (TA) does nothing to address the next compaction crisis that will occur January 1, 2016. Minimal wage will increase again by $1 per hour driving FFI wages up again. As you face the difficult decision to approve or reject this proposal, I would like to share with you my personal sense and regret relative to this proposal, I have spent many sleepless nights wondering who is to blame and what we could have done differently. The harsh reality is that all who have participated in the bargaining process have given their very best into this effort. At the end of the day it came down to the simple and stark realization that we have little to no support from the current administration to address our ongoing problems. I accept full responsibilty for this failure despite all that I have invested to attain a significant pay increase to our members. Personal responsibilty lies in the center of this. I expressed my dismay to President Lopez regarding this proposal and he understood my reservations. I will be next Monday and Tuesday at the union office to answer any questions you may have. I will be there between 13:00PM - 17:00PM each day to provide additional information. I urge all of you that can to try to attend, as this proposal will move into ratification relatively quickly contingent of legislator approval. Sincerely, Gad Amith Bargaining Team Member CAL FIRE L-2881.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 19:15:01 +0000
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