chicagoareafire.com

Keeping track of Chicago area fire departments

Posts Tagged Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2

Chicago Fire Department news

Mar 12

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

Excerpts from fox32chicago.com:

An Illinois Senate bill could help Chicago firefighters get promotions more easily and frequently by standardizing the process.

Unlike other departments statewide, Chicago’s force is exempted from the Fire Department Promotion Act, which oversees the process to ensure that is fair and free of bias.

The Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 is in support of the bill and says the promotional exam is held irregularly, and sometimes happens only once a decade. This means some members may only get one chance at a promotion during a 20-year career.

Senate Bill 1707 passed the Senate Labor Committee Wednesday and now heads to the full Senate for consideration.

thanks Scott

Tags: , , ,

Chicago Fire Department news (more)

Dec 17

Posted by Admin in Coronavirus, CORONAVIRUS DISEASE 2019 (COVID-19), Fire Department News | Comments off

Excerpts from Fox32chicago.com:

An arbitrator has ruled that several unions representing Chicago firefighters and other city employees must follow Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s COVID-19 vaccination policy. The ruling means that the union employees will lose pay if they do not receive a first shot by Dec. 31. They must get a second shot by Jan. 31 if they choose a two-dose vaccine.

The ruling issued Wednesday applies to the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 21, Service Employees International Union Local 73, Teamsters Local 700, and Coalition of Unionized Public Employees.

The ruling does not apply to members of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police, which has been engaged in a bitter battle with the mayor over the mandate. A Cook County judge suspended the Dec. 31 vaccination deadline for police and sent the issue to arbitration, which begins Dec. 27.

 

The city’s law department praised Wednesday’s decision, which comes after dozens of firefighters and paramedics who defied the reporting requirement were placed on no-pay status and sent home.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Chicago Fire Department news (more)

Sep 6

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 4 Comments

Excerpts from wttw.com:

Aldermen advanced an agreement Thursday that would give Chicago firefighters $95 million in back pay, but puts off fraught negotiations over how fire stations should be staffed.

Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 ratified the tentative agreement with 76% of the vote, chief labor attorney for the city James Franczek told members of the City Council’s Workforce Development Committee, which unanimously endorsed the deal. The full city council is set to vote on the deal Wednesday.

The deal is retroactive to July 1, 2017, when the last labor agreement between the city and the firefighters union expired, and will last until June 30, 2021. The deal calls for firefighters to get a 10% raise during the term of the agreement, in keeping with pay hikes won by other unions that represent city workers.

In return for annual pay hikes ranging from 2% to 2.25% through Jan. 1, 2022, both retired and active duty firefighters will contribute more toward their health care coverage, saving the city $10 million during the duration of the agreement. The deal also calls for the city to expand its fleet of ambulances from 75 to 80, additional protective gear for firefighters, and up to two additional days of vacation for firefighters with more than 25 years of service.

The deal does not change a rule that requires every piece of fire equipment to be staffed by at least five employees. The agreement calls for the current staffing requirements to stay in place until Jan. 1, 2022.

Tags: , , ,

Chicago Fire Department news

Sep 13

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

Excerpts from the ChicagoSunTimes.com:

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s also hopes to hammer out a new firefighters’ contract that eliminates treasured union perks and outdated staffing requirements that cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.

Sources said she delivered her cost-cutting message in a recent face-to-face meeting with Jim Tracy, president of Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2. The mayor asked for help and cooperation from a union that gave her a pivotal endorsement during the runoff campaign against Toni Preckwinkle. Sources said the answer was no, setting the stage for contentious negotiations.

Another city hall source noted former Mayor Rahm Emanuel had been close to a new firefighters’ contract that would have traded health insurance concessions for a reduction in daily variances from the minimum manning requirement that triggered the bitter 1980 firefighters strike. That rule requires every piece of fire apparatus to be staffed by at least five firefighters. But time ran out before the deal got done.

“If the union was smart, they would have grabbed that deal. But they got greedy. They wanted 15% over five years,” the source said.

Emanuel took office in 2011 talking even tougher than Lightfoot is now. He vowed to take a hard line with firefighters — though his own fire commissioner opposed closing fire houses or reducing the minimum staffing requirement. Four months later, then-Fire Commissioner Robert Hoff abruptly resigned, leaving firefighters without a champion.

Emanuel infuriated Local 2 by taking aim at such treasured union perks as holiday and duty availability pay; clothing allowances; pay grades; premium pay; the physical fitness incentive and the 7% premium paid to cross-trained firefighter/paramedics. The plan did not include closing fire stations, but it would have allowed all fire houses with an engine and truck to be staffed by nine firefighters instead of 10. Rookie probation would have doubled to 18 months.

In a letter to the rank and file, then-union president Tom Ryan declared Emanuel’s plan horrendous, insulting and ridiculous. Ryan dug in for what he feared would be a long and bitter battle that never happened. Emanuel backed off and settled for a vanilla agreement with no cost-cutting concessions.

For years, Inspector General Joe Ferguson has urged the city to revisit the minimum staffing requirement and eliminate a host of contract sweeteners. Ferguson had estimated annual savings of $57 million if the number of firefighters on each piece of fire apparatus was cut from five to four, and that another $14.3 million could be saved yearly by eliminating“duty availability pay — compensation for being on 24-hour call.

The mayor’s city council floor leader argued Tuesday that every option now must be on the table, including closing firehouses, to chip away at the city’s $838 million shortfall. “If the need for firefighters vs. EMTs has changed, we need to change the formula. There are no sacred cows anymore. They’ve all gone out to pasture.”

Excerpts from cltv.com:

Mayor Lori Lightfoot stood surrounded by firefighters at a solemn 9/11 remembrance Wednesday, an image in stark contrast to her reported private fight with them. She used the event as a backdrop to slam a Chicago Sun-Times report claiming that she went to the Union Local 2 demanding cost-cutting, and the union said no.

“That reporting was wildly inaccurate and I’m personally offended that it came out on 9/11. This is a day of unity. This is a day that we should be standing together,” Lightfoot said. “I’m disturbed at the inaccuracies in that reporting.”

She is in the process of negotiating contracts with unions representing Chicago’s firefighters, police officers, and teachers. Each powerful group is likely to secure pay raises as a condition of signing new deals.

Facing a staggering $838 million budget deficit, the mayor is looking for savings and efficiencies. This week she said the city can’t afford police overtime expenses, which soared to $67.6 million the first six months of the year.

She may also comb through the fire department’s budget, and costly minimum staffing requirements.

The city council floor leader says the unions must partner with the city.

There’s no comment from the firefighters’ union, but former firefighter and Alderman Nick Sposato said minimum staffing requirements are essential. But he admitted there could be room for some cuts.

Tags: , , ,

Chicago Fire Department news

Mar 16

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 1 Comment

Excerpts from the ChicagoSun-Times.com:

Jim Tracy, a veteran business agent, beat out former Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 President Dan Fabrizio for the open seat vacated by the retirement of three-term union president Tom Ryan. Both candidates were union insiders and members of the executive board. Jim Tracy was the 4th District business agent. Fabrizio was in charge of political action.

His campaign poster highlights nine promises that include: providing immediate relief for 300 retired members without Medicare or other health insurance; putting five more advanced life support ambulances in service; restoring the paramedic clothing allowance so they can buy a bulletproof vest; and establishing a paramedicine division of the Fire Prevention Bureau.

He also promised to: stop runaway legal bills suddenly an extra $300,000-a-year; allow retired members ages 60 to 63 to rescind their furloughs for their buyout; lower the threshold to 25 years of service to earn a so-called Grandpa Day, awarded as an extra furlough day to the most senior members (it is now 26 or 27 years); activate a post-retirement medical savings plan; get firefighters and paramedics out of the Chicago Healthy Lives Program.

The poster also brands as inexcusable, ill-advised or disappointing decisions made by the Ryan regime or under the retiring president’s watch. They include: prosecuting seven union members; not bringing a 16 percent raise to the board, and not going to arbitration to get our pension millions of dollars owed.

The changing of the guard at Local 2 comes at a time when the union is gearing up to negotiate another contract.

Five years ago, Emanuel took aim at treasured union perks that included the clothing allowance; holiday and duty-availability pay; pay grades; premium pay; non-duty lay-up coverage; a physical fitness incentive and a 7 percent premium paid to cross-trained firefighter-paramedics.

The mayor subsequently backed away from all of those concession demands in a pre-election contract that won him the surprise endorsement of Local 2, a union that had endorsed mayoral challenger Gery Chico over Emanuel in 2011.

The contract that expires June 30 called for Chicago firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians to get an 11 percent pay raise over five years, but ended free health care for those who retire between the ages of 55 and 65.

Ryan returned the favor by signing on to a deal that gave Chicago 15 more years to ramp up to a 90 percent funding level for police and fire pensions. Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed that bill. But three Republican crossover votes helped Emanuel overturn the governor’s veto.

Now, Emanuel is under pressure to get tough with the union again.

Last year, Inspector General Joe Ferguson concluded that Chicago taxpayers were shelling out $5 million a year to provide a uniform allowance to firefighters that’s more like an automatic cash bonus because it’s completely unmoored from any determination of actual need or use.

Ald. Nick Sposato (38th), a former Chicago firefighter, noted that the minimum-manning requirement that triggered the 1980 firefighters strike will not expire until 2019. All other aspects of the union contract will be negotiated this year.

 

thanks Dan

Tags: , , ,

Chicago Fire Department news

Mar 5

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 2 Comments

Excerpts from the ChicagoSunTimes.com:

Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration and the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 are blaming each other for a broken promise to add at least five ambulances by July 1, 2016.

“As part of the side letter with Local 2, the fire department and union agreed they would form a six- person committee to come to a consensus on the placement of the five new ambulances,” mayoral spokesperson Julienn Kaviar wrote in an email.

“The fire department sent a letter in January of 2015 to the union president and has not received the union’s appointments to the committee.”

Even without that committee, sources said the Chicago Fire Department forged ahead with an internal study to determine locations for the five new ambulances that has narrowed the list of possible sites to fewer than fifteen.

Ald. Nick Sposato (38th), a former Chicago firefighter, agreed that the ambulance expansion he championed got lost in the shuffle, in part because of the shortage of paramedics.

“There is no how, no way if they put five more ambulances out there that they would be able to man ’em because they don’t have enough paramedics,” Sposato said.

“All of these paramedics are making a ton of money because they’re working a day, off a day, working a day, off a day. That’s a brutal schedule for paramedics because they pretty much take a beating out there. If they’re in busier ambulances, they’re doing 20-to-25 runs-a-day, four or five runs after midnight.”

Sposato noted that a class of 50 paramedics started their ten weeks of training this week and another class of 50 is scheduled to start in June. A third class may follow this fall.

The five-year firefighters contract that expires on June 30 included a dramatic upgrade in emergency medical care — by ending Chicago’s two-tiered system of ambulance service.

Instead, all 15 of Chicago’s basic-life-support ambulances were converted to advanced-life-support, giving Chicago 75 ambulances.

The move freed up the equivalent of 30 firefighters, since each one of the city’s BLS ambulances were staffed by a pair of firefighter-EMT’s. At the same time, the city agreed to hire more paramedics — anywhere from 50 to 200.

The contract also included a side-letter promising to appoint a six-member ambulance expansion committee — with three appointees from both the city and Local 2 — within 60 days of contract ratification.

Last month, veteran paramedics accused Emanuel and their own union leaders of dropping the ball on a promised ambulance expansion they claim is desperately needed. The wave of paramedic hiring promised during negotiations hasn’t happened either, veteran paramedics said.

During the first six months of last year, the fire department had already spent $26 million on overtime. That’s 86.6 percent of its overtime budget for the entire year.

thanks Dan

Tags: , , , , ,

Chicago Fire Department news

Feb 9

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | Comments off

Excerpts from the ChicagoSunTimes.com:

Rank-and-file firefighters and paramedics were informed this week that Tom Ryan, their leader for the last nine years, is calling it quits as president of the Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2. He’s not running for re-election. He retired in November after 34 years as a Chicago firefighter.

Instead, former Union President Dan Fabrizio, who’s now serving as legislative director for Local 2, will face off against business agent Jim Tracy.

The changing of the guard at Local 2 comes as the union gears up to negotiate another contract.

Five years ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel took aim at treasured union perks that included the clothing allowance; holiday and duty-availability pay; pay grades; premium pay; non-duty lay-up coverage; a physical fitness incentive and a 7-percent premium paid to cross-trained firefighter-paramedics.

The mayor subsequently backed away from all of those concession demands in a pre-election contract that won him the surprise endorsement of Local 2, a union that had endorsed mayoral challenger Gery Chico over Emanuel in 2011.

The contract that expires June 30 called for Chicago firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians to get an 11 percent pay raise over five years, but ends free health care for those who retire between the ages of 55 and 65.

Ryan returned the favor by signing on to a deal that gave Chicago 15 more years to ramp up to a 90 percent funding level for police and fire pensions.

Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed that bill. But three Republican crossover votes helped Emanuel overturn the governor’s veto. Now, Emanuel is under pressure to get tough with the union again.

Last year, Inspector General Joe Ferguson concluded that Chicago taxpayers were shelling out $5 million-a-year to provide a uniform allowance to firefighters and paramedics that’s more like an “automatic cash bonus” because it’s “completely unmoored from any determination of actual need or use.”

The uniform allowance — $1,250 or $1,500, depending on the assignment — is supposed to be used for the maintenance and cleaning of uniforms.

In his audit, Ferguson compared uniform issuances, exchanges and allowances at the Chicago Fire Department to similar spending in New York City, Philadelphia, Toronto, Dallas, San Diego and Indianapolis. The CFD issued fewer dress and work uniform items to new hires than most other cities and spent less per employee than any other city surveyed.

But, that comparative advantage is more than offset by an annual uniform allowance that is among the most generous in the nation, Ferguson concluded.

In yet another audit, Ferguson concluded that the fire department could save at least $1.2 million a year and potentially millions more in overtime by hiring civilians to perform 34 administrative jobs that have nothing to do with firefighting or emergency medical service.

One of the slots listed as a potential civilian position was the job of commissary liaison, charged with resolving uniform exchange disputes between members and the outside vendor. The job is currently filled by a fire department captain.

thanks Dan

Tags: , , ,

Chicago Fire Department news

Oct 6

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 1 Comment

Excerpts from the ChicagoSunTimes.com:

More than 2,300 people have signed a petition criticizing Chicago Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago in connection with the suspension of a lieutenant for refusing an order.

 Lt. Steven Spallina refused an order to send members of the fire department into an area where he suspected they might come into contact with Ebola, the deadly disease, according to union officials.

Spallina was suspended for 60 days, but on July 12, arbitrator Jacalyn Zimmerman overturned the discipline. She ruled he was not guilty of insubordination the union said in a recent letter to members.

The letter said Zimmerman decided Spallina could disagree with an order he believed would endanger the health and safety of him or other employees, the union said.

“We were recently informed that the department is going to seek to have the arbitrator’s decision overturned on the basis that it is against public policy — that the firefighters would stop doing their inherently dangerous jobs because of this decision,” the letter said.

On Sept. 21, the executive board of Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2 declared a vote of no confidence in Santiago and urged members to sign a petition expressing disappointment “in the CFD’s decision to challenge this final and binding arbitration award,” according to the letter.

In a text message, Tom Ryan, president of the union, told the Chicago Sun-Times: “Local 2 is expected to honor arbitrator’s rulings — good or bad. Arbitrator Zimmerman was very clear in her ruling that Lt. Spallina was vindicated and should be made whole. The petition is in response to this CFD action.”

The union represents the city’s 4,645 rank-and-file firefighters and paramedics. It’s unclear how many of the signatures on the petition belong to members of the Chicago Fire Department.

Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford refused to comment on the petition drive. Instead, he issued an emailed statement defending Santiago’s decision to order a lengthy suspension.

“Lt. Spallina was given a 60-day suspension for insubordination after not following a direct order,” Langford wrote. “We continue to evaluate our legal options and the decision has not yet been made on whether to appeal the arbitrator’s decision.”

thanks Dan

Tags: , , , , ,

Chicago Fire Department news

Sep 22

Posted by Admin in Fire Service News | 2 Comments

Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 message Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 message

Tags: , ,

Chicago inspector general attacks CFD uniform allowance

Apr 22

Posted by Admin in Fire Department News | 3 Comments

Excerpts from the ChicagoSunTimes.com:

Chicago taxpayers are shelling out $5 million-a-year to provide a uniform allowance to firefighters that’s more like an automatic cash bonus because it’s completely unmoored from any determination of actual need or use, Inspector General Joe Ferguson concluded Wednesday.

Four years ago, Mayor Rahm Emanuel took aim at treasured union perks that included the clothing allowance; holiday and duty-availability pay; pay grades; premium pay; non-duty lay-up coverage; a physical fitness incentive and a 7-percent premium paid to cross-trained firefighter-paramedics.

The mayor subsequently backed away from all of those concession demands in a pre-election contract that won him the surprise endorsement of a Chicago Firefighters Union Local 2 that had endorsed mayoral challenger Gery Chico over Emanuel in 2011.

The new, five-year contract called for Chicago firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians to get an 11-percent pay raise over five years, but ends free health care for those who retire between the ages of 55 and 65.

Now, Inspector General Joe Ferguson is taking aim at that uniform allowance in an audit that examined the “issuance, exchange and repair of uniform items” at the Chicago Fire Department’s Commissary.  That’s a storefront run by an outside contractor that issues and sells uniforms under a five-year, $11.7 million contract that expires in 2019.

The city provides free uniforms and free replacements on an exchange basis, unless items are lost or stolen, damaged beyond repair due to employee negligence or excessive weight fluctuations.

The uniform allowance — $1,250 or $1,500, depending on the assignment — is supposed to be used for the maintenance and cleaning of uniforms.

In his audit, Ferguson compared uniform issuances, exchanges and allowances at the Chicago Fire Department to similar spending in New York City, Philadelphia, Toronto, Dallas, San Diego, and Indianapolis.

The Chicago Fire Department issued fewer dress and work uniform items to new hires than most other cities and spent less per-employee than any other city surveyed. But, that comparative advantage is more than offset by an annual uniform allowance that is among the most generous in the nation, Ferguson concluded.

“Purportedly provided to pay for the annual maintenance and cleaning of uniforms, the allowance is completely unmoored from any determination of actual need or use,” Ferguson wrote.

“In addition, CFD does not monitor or audit how [or for what] members spend their allowance once it’s disbursed. As a result, this substantial annual stipend, one of the most generous in the nation, more closely resembles an automatic cash bonus. It therefore merits rigorous scrutiny and reassessment in the context of the city’s 2017 bargaining round with Local 2. … The sizable uniform allowance given to CFD personnel represents an additional opportunity for improved budgetary transparency, accountability and savings.”

In the audit, Ferguson examined 58,257 transactions valued at $1.7 million over a one-year period ending on June 30, 2015 and found that 99.9 percent of those transactions adhered to department policy and management practices.

But, he also found that $535,757 — or 10.5 percent — of commissary expenditures made in 2012 and 2013 “came from a grant source that was not included in the budget proposal or appropriation” for the vendor-run store.

The Chicago Fire Department said that was an historical practice that it intends to change in the future to provide more transparency.

Fire Commissioner Jose Santiago has also made other changes in response to the audit. They include prohibiting firefighters and paramedics from procuring uniform items for other members and modifying the point during training at which candidate paramedics are measured for an receive uniform items to reduce spending on candidate for subsequently drop out.

In addition, the commissary vendor is now required to review past usage of individual members at the time of new transactions to reduce the risk of excessive purchases or exchanges.

Earlier this year, Ferguson concluded that the fire department could save at least $1.2 million a year and potentially millions more in overtime by hiring civilians to perform 34 administrative jobs that have nothing to do with firefighting or emergency medical service.

One of the positions targeted for civilianization was the job of commissary liaison charged with resolving uniform exchange disputes between members and the outside vendor. The job is currently filled by a CFD captain, the new audit states.

Tags: , , , ,