Hello Brothers and Sisters,
So, what a busy, hectic day it was today for our board! Between Executive board, labour management, general membership, ministry of Labor and WSIB meetings! It was a full day!
First of all I would like to state that we had some difficulties with setting up the Live streaming of our general membership meeting tonight and we had to finally give up on it. We will have it all corrected at next months meeting.
I'm just going to recap what occurred today so everyone is on the same page.
Our board members have received a small outline of their duties for this upcoming year. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to do this thoroughly, but we did get started.
Here is a basic outline.
Duane Janisse - Secretary (Overtime Lists, Minutes, Correspondence and a lot more!)
Doug Emery - Vice President/Treasurer (Daily issues, Accounting, Budget and Finances)
Wayne Currie - Sergeant at Arms - (Retiree Benefits)
Andre Gingras - Guide (Co-Chair - Joint Health and Safety)
Brian Bobbie - Guard (WSIB Representative and Banquet)
Presidents Report:
Re:(Issues at WFRS, WPFFA, Labor Management and Executive Board)
Joint Job Evaluation: We had a meeting last Friday September 27th, 2013 between all parties and we are waiting for a decision. Hopefully, there is a mutual consensus and we can move this forward to the next step.
LTD - Our LTD committee has completed their task of gathering information about our plan. They have presented a document to us and we will put this on the website so the membership can review it. Currently, our LTD plan is inadequate. We will put this on the agenda for December.
Care to Wear Pink - The FMT is in grievance that the membership can wear their Pink Fire and Rescue shirts for the whole month of October! So, be proud and wear your pink shirts. Lets fight cancer! Also, Management is having a Fire Engine painted (wrapped) in the color pink for the whole month of October. This vehicle will be going to public events and may be in service from time to time. If there are extra ff’s on duty they will bring the vehicle to public events and when we are at minimum the vehicle will be put in service and the crew will bring the vehicle to the events. The Engine will be wrapped in pink until the Santa Parade. So, all in all, lets show our support and get your pink on and lets give cancer the boot!
IAFF Assessment - The city of Ajax received their award back on April 4th, 2013 from Arbitrator Brian Etherington and he awarded that the FF's in Ajax go on a 24hour shift for a 2-year trial basis. The City of Ajax does not agree with this award and is now going to bring this decision to judicial review with the assistance of other Municipalities assisting with the cost that is going to be incurred. So, Ajax's Association requested from the IAFF assistance to fight this review and the IAFF agreed. The OPFFA has stepped in as well and have asked that all the locals ask their members to donate $1.00 to the cause on a voluntary basis. So, the WPFFA passed a motion tonight to pay the $1.00 out of our Political Action Account and send the OPFFA a cheque for $302.00. This passed and we will do it ASAP. This will help offset the cost that Local 1092 Ajax Professional Fire Fighters Association will incur.
Vacation Selections - On the vacation selection sheet at the bottom of the page where it states that there are 10 members off per day there will be 6 FF's off and 4 Captains off. Where it states that there are 9 members off per day, there will be 6 FF's and 3 Captains. Please submit your vacation selections on time.
Elevator Training Notice - The FMT and the WPFFA came to resolve with this issue. The FMT is going to rescind their last notice asking for members to apply. Instead the FMT will repost this Notice asking for qualified training officers to submit their names and get the training that is involved. The training officers will then train the membership on the days that they work. This will be a time sensitive notice, so please look for it and submit your name, if you are interested.
Grievances: We are waiting for the responses from the CAO with regards to the 2 grievances that we have filed for not filling the vacancy for the Emergency Equipment Technician and the Electronic Technician within 90 days. We have also filed an individual grievance for an individual member who was not allowed to switch his vacation when he fell ill during his vacation. This has been filed along with a Policy Grievance as well. We are still waiting for a day with the CAO to present this issue.
Master Seniority List: There were many members who were not properly shown to have been qualified for a Training Officer, Fire Prevention Officer, etc., and this has been corrected. A new Master Seniority List will be coming out shortly after all of the corrections have been made.
2014 FF's Calendar - The Windsor Memorial will be fronting the money for the 2014 FF's Calendar. We need to sell as many as possible to make this a successful campaign.
Water Rescue - Once the water rescue equipment has been purchased the FMT will be having a meeting with all the candidates who put their names forward at the original posting. After the meeting has been completed and the qualifications outlined if the FMT needs more members then they will repost for more applicants. The Water Rescue team will run out of Station 7 and will be approximately 20 to 24 members.
LMS - There seems to be an issue with the LMS program. For some reason you are unable to go back to the notices and reopen them. The FMT was unaware of this and will rectify it immediately.
Promotions - We have asked the FMT for a list of dates for when all of the qualification classes will be taking place for the upcoming New Year. The FMT is currently working on a list for all divisions and hopes to have it out soon.
Honour Guard - The Honour Guard is looking at purchasing new uniforms for the team. A motion was brought forward to have the Honour Guard bring forward a few quotes and have the membership vote on it at next months General Membership Meeting.
Wake Up Windsor - This is a very good program that is great for our Association, the community and the City. The FMT has asked for individuals from the Fire and Rescue Division to be the Wake Up Spokesperson. We have had some concerns with the posting that went out and we are confident that the issues surrounding this will be resolved. In the meantime, lets make sure that we do a good job while we are out in the public. Remember, our contract is coming out shortly :) and we need to be seen and appreciated by the public as much as possible!
WPFFA T-Shirts - At tonight’s General Membership Meeting a motion was passed to purchase and spend up to $12.00 per T-shirt. Our members and retirees at WPFFA public events will wear these T-Shirts. We are currently looking at quotes and hope to have this completed by month end.
Ministry of Labor - There was a meeting today with the Ministry of Labor and the Joint Health and Safety Committee. It had to do with a work refusal a few weeks ago on a "Wake Up " day. The Ministry of Labor put it back in the hands of both parties to come to a compromise and offered a few helpful pointers to both parties to assist in coming to a resolve.
Retirement Banquet - The Banquet is on Friday November 1st, 2013 at the Caboto Club. If you have any stories you would like to share about any of our retirees please contact Brian Bobbie. Tickets are on sale and you can purchase them from Judy Borman and Maureen Nicholls.
So, you can see that it has been a very busy and successful day. Remember, it takes 2 sides to keep working together. Lets keep up the good work and be proud of what we are and where we work! If anybody needs anything feel free to contact anyone on the executive board.
Sincerely,
Angelo Gertsakis
WPFFA, Local 455
President
