LA City Workers.com – City of LA Blog

The Famous Friday Drop.

After everyones gone home for the night, surprise an email pops up near 9Pm.

In the Excuse filled email the latest contract agreement.

After carefully reviewing the New Revised Draft Agreement which supercedes are previous ERIP, and our current contract, one thing is clear.  Were Still Screwed!

We were fed half holidays unpaid, which came up to a couple hours, now we are forced to randomly take 3.5 hours Every Single pay period.

Coalition members will be Willingly Furloughed nearly Two Weeks – 59.5 Hours

Bonuses no longer compound losing there importance and recognition of the hazardous life threatening duties performed Costing Workers Thousands! LAPD Officers Would NEVER tolerate this.

NO CASH OVERTIME – Comp time only. Federal Limit of 240 hours.

NO RAISES – EAA MEMBERS GOT THERE RAISES

There are no Real tangible savings other then the Furloughs.

We continue to put off Real cost savings which will only make us suffer in the long term putting everyone’s future at risk. If the council isn’t told no you can’t continue to spend in this fashion, one day we will wake up to a headline blasting City of Los Angeles files for bankruptcy.

It is up to us to be responsible and Vote NO on this deal the furloughs are a given, but risking our financial future on the hope the city will magically come up with money in the next year and not spend it on more cops is foolish.

Consider this, LA City council instead of actually saving money by canceling the Police Academy Class has only delayed it in the hopes that if we give back all of these things in our contract we will allow them to continue spending at an unsustainable rate. No Other Union has had to give up this much, why are we giving away so much?

Paying more for Early Retirement and adding these latest concessions will leave us far behind other workers, and Sworn will continue to make out like bandits.

We Do NOT have to keep shouldering the costs for early retirements and our failed unions desperate attempt to save face.

Look at the numbers and the long term consequences of this deal.

If We VOTE NO:

We Get a +3.0% Retro Raise

We GET another 2.75% Raise in Two Months

We Keep our CASH Overtime.

We KEEP our pride, and our contract whole.

We will still have a contract after the economy improves, and we will be able to negotiate things that will prevent using employee wages as a savings account.

If we Don’t we are opening ourselves up to continued abuse and more of the same.

Employees will not have there retirement increased without proper bargaining.

If we Vote Yes we are setting ourselves back 30 years.

We are going to allow the city to transfer people against there will, we are hurting everything as a collective bargaining group we are suppose to stand for.

Stop getting used as an ATM.

Surprise! Christmas is canceled! Courtesy of the Coalition of City unions, SEIU and a host of other Grinches.  Erip Cash Poof Capped and delayed.

Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, ALL GONE.

That is the result of the new agreement.

Cash Overtime for Civilians, GONE.

Landslide, Earthquake, Fire, Flood, Terrorist Attack, Well I hope the LAPD and LAFD can Handle massive traffic control and clean up, because city workers will be hard pressed to show up to work overtime, without cash compensation.

Raises GONE. It will be 2011 before we see a penny IF the city feels it should honor the contract with the coalition since after all it feels it can open them up at will.

But Wait Hold Everything I am proposing today Not a single member of the Coalition of City Unions vote in favor of this contract until we get the following written binding concession from the City of Los Angeles, Council, LAPPL, UFLA and the Mayor By 3Pm on 9/24/2009 Otherwise LA Cityworkers.com would suggest we Soundly REJECT the giveback deal.

Simple, LAFD & LAPD obtain the same NO CASH restrictions on Overtime!

It might hurt the following employees substantially considering this is how much they made in OVERTIME ALONE! This is just a very small sample of the thousands of LAFD & LAPD Overtime Whores you are giving Christmas & Thanksgiving up for.

FIRE    FIRE BATTALION CHIEF    $100,515.39
FIRE    ENGINEER OF FIRE DEPT    $101,180.61
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $101,738.56
POLICE    POLICE DETECTIVE III    $101,739.13
FIRE    FIRE CAPTAIN I         $101,952.19
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $101,983.38
FIRE    FIRE CAPTAIN I         $102,274.69
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $102,275.52
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $102,287.68
FIRE    FIRE CAPTAIN I         $102,413.19
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $102,543.78
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $102,966.02
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $103,256.91
POLICE    POLICE OFFICER III    $103,590.16
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $103,749.48
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $104,744.99
FIRE    ENGINEER OF FIRE DEPT    $104,966.35
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $105,362.88
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $106,035.12
POLICE    POLICE DETECTIVE III    $106,242.83
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $106,369.39
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $106,465.11
FIRE    FIRE INSPECTOR I    $106,466.26

FIRE    FIRE CAPTAIN II         $70,000.18
FIRE    FIRE CAPTAIN I         $70,010.34
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $70,026.20
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $70,042.86
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $70,100.83
FIRE    FIRE CAPTAIN I         $70,178.37
FIRE    ENGINEER OF FIRE DEPT    $70,180.52
FIRE    FIRE CAPTAIN I         $70,181.75
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $70,292.64
FIRE    FIRE INSPECTOR I    $70,300.59
FIRE    FIRE CAPTAIN I         $70,429.88
FIRE    FIRE CAPTAIN I         $70,470.77
POLICE    POLICE SERGEANT II    $70,473.10
POLICE    POLICE OFFICER III    $70,480.10
FIRE    ENGINEER OF FIRE DEPT    $70,597.03
POLICE    POLICE OFFICER III    $70,624.27
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $70,626.34
FIRE    ENGINEER OF FIRE DEPT    $70,697.65
FIRE    FIRE INSPECTOR II    $70,735.22
FIRE    FIRE CAPTAIN II         $70,747.46
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $70,840.30
FIRE    FIRE CAPTAIN II         $70,871.82
FIRE    FIREFIGHTER III         $70,908.65
FIRE    ENGINEER OF FIRE DEPT    $70,911.31

Coalition Members YOU need NO MORE PROOF THEN THIS that your Sacrifice is going into Sworns Pocket!

I am sure this list may make some of you ill or depressed if so See a Dr. on Friday 9/25/2009 a new Furlough Flu has been diagnosed this contract is sickening every civilian employee in every classification!

Stand Firm Support our struggle and REJECT THE LIE’S!

9-14-2009, Budget committee sends Julie Butcher and the Coalition back to dig in to there numbers to save the city an additional “50-60 Million” so ERIP can pass committee and be presented to council.

9-15-2009 12 hours later and countless sleepless hours the coalition return to the council ready to share there hard work, after all saving 62.5 million can’t be an easy task but the early retirement plan they have worked on for over a year now with it’s flaws, changes, and modifications ratified by All coalition unions, will finally be voted on and sent to the full city council.

GUESS AGAIN! In a Political showdown for the ages Mayor AntonioVillaraigosa slashed the hopes of the Coalition and it’s membership by simply telling council he would veto ERIP if passed.

Thousands of man hours, countless efforts by the coalition meeting after meeting roadblock after roadblock the coalition has overcome all obstacles to present the council the option of ERIP to prevent furloughs and layoffs for 22,000 hard working members of the coalition, only to be blindsided by political grandstanding and ego trips.

ERIP may not have been the best solution, but it is not as bad as having our elected officials incapable of making a decision on balancing the budget no different then the state legislators they themselves criticized.

It is unfair to dangle the ERIP carrot in front of thousands of employees then snatch it away at the last minute demanding further concessions.

City of Los Angeles should have empowered an actuarial study the minute erip was finalized and before the members of the coalition voted, if SEIU and the coalition had known several months ago that this early retirement program would not have been approved because of cost’s it could have had the opportunity to present to it’s membership alternatives it would have had the time to work with the city council in order to make the budget concessions it needed in order to maintain the current workforce at acceptable levels.

City Council should seriously consider the fact LAFD, LAPD, and civilian employees will no longer tolerate the second class status to proprietary departments and will demand the Council make cut’s to it’s programs and salaries themselves.

We can’t layoff the council, but with there handling of the current situation it would not be surprising to see the start of a recall campaign begin to demonstrate our anger not at the failing of the erip, but that of council to seek solutions to the problems facing us all.

Many council members have worked diligently towards a fair solution while looking out for the city as a whole, Mr. Rosendahl, Mr. Parks, and Mr. Huizar have all stepped up to the plate and worked countless hours toward a resolution.

We are so close to a solution it is time we all come together to determine what can and can not work so that the uncertainty is removed.

Super majority, 12 Members of council are needed to pass ERIP today, we need to move on address the budget issues that got us here, and take steps to prevent these budget shortfalls from causing further devastation to the city it’s constituents, and the employees that serve them.

Coalition leaders can not be blamed for the failing of the ERIP, that would fall squarely on the shoulders of Council and the Mayor they have worked to pass the ERIP for many months and this last second political assault is inexcusable.

SEIU Local 1000 scores a Furlough Victory!

State fund insurance workers will Get back pay and interest for the furlough days taken ruled Superior Court Judge Charlotte Walter Woolard today.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger imposed mandatory furloughs on nearly all State workers earlier this year, SEIU Local 1000 filed five cases on the furlough issues and four are yet to be decided.

SEIU claimed furloughs would amount to a cutback of staff, State Fund employees are exempted from ” hiring freezes and staff cutbacks” in the states Insurance Code ruled Judge Wollard.

State officials would not say if they planned on appealing the ruling.

City of Los Angeles workers will not be affected by today’s ruling as it does not cover any employees outside of the State workers compensation Fund, the City of Los Angeles is self insured for workers compensation and is operated by LA city employees in the Personnel Department.

City of LA Reserve Fire Fighters program needs to be implemented to save lives, Union needs to accept reality. Allow Reserve firefighters !

Station File Time Lapse #4 from Dan Finnerty on Vimeo.

Shared Sacrifice, Allow the Los Angeles Fire Department to recruit and train volunteer firefighters for implementing an extensive network of high quality candidates to fill positions which otherwise would have remained vacant.

After the 1994 Northridge earthquake Los Angeles became very aware we were woefully under prepared for a major catastrophe, now in these very lean budget years we are forced to brownout stations and risk lives in order to meet budgetary constraints while at the same time earning ten’s or hundreds of thousands of dollars in Overtime.

Clearly we do not have enough firefighters, and we can’t afford to pay for more with the very lucrative compensation packages offered to Sworn members of the city.

Solution: Reserve Firefighters.

They would be trained at the Los Angeles Fire Academy, they would be required to pass the same background investigation, and they would be part time volunteer fire fighters required to perform a minimum amount of service per month to the city for the first several years after training in order to recoup the investment the city makes.

Only one obstacle remains the Union. Whose old arguments fly in the face of logic because we have qualified Reserve Police Officers, who by all accounts can take or save human life.

If the Los Angeles Police Academy can Train and recruit high quality Reserve Police Officers It would be very difficult to argue that the Los Angeles Fire Academy could not perform to the same standards.

It’s time Los Angeles sees through the smoke screen of the union and allows the City of Los Angeles to bring up the numbers of Fire Fighters to the same levels of staffing as the Los Angeles Police Department and to afford the citizens of this city the same protection the County of Los Angeles and most every other city allow, Volunteer Firefighters.

As the fires continue to grow,  and lives are lost by our brave firefighters it is now more urgent then ever to explore the possibility of this solution to allow those willing to sacrifice the opportunity to do so.