Received via Email 10.17.10 Why are we surprised at the Mayors lateset attempt to bust our Union? I'm truely surprised he did'nt give them take home cars as well. We must continue to stand up to the Mutt's and let them know we are on to them. I am awaiting the day we finally get to neuter these a**holes and send them packin. FTM. FTM. FTM. FTM. FTM. FTM.
Received via Email 10.20.10 Jimmy is on his way out. The mayors going to see how ineffective he is against 270 union firefighters (of which he's never been one). Wimberly's nothing more than a num with a ruler in his hand. He meats out the punishment and then the union makes him eat his words. Knight is beloved by everyone in the county just like we love him here.
Received via Email 10.20.10 Okay, so let's suppose that the captain at station 12 (LeCry) was just the most helpful person that we all know and that he always puts the union before himself. In the spirit of "just trying to help" at shift change he pops off with, "if you guys don't accept this contract, the city's going to jam in down your throats anyways and take away a 'step'. WTF? Does he mean take pay away? Let's have 2 steps. Entry and max. He's about to get another R day (oh wait.........he works his 52 plus another 32-40 some weeks so that he makes more than the fire chief) so he doesn't really care about our contract, only about being a bitch. I'm sure everyone at the table is already looking for the mailman to get their ballots back. LeCry, for once in your life quit being a bitch for someone else.
Received via Email 10.20.10 He's a shill for the man. I can understand someone ratting him out but do any of you really believe HQ staff would trust Mr. Blabby with anything important?
Receved via Email 10.20.10 When do I get my shoes mutha?
Received via Email 10.20.10 The only one's getting anything are the captains and the dc's. For drug and alchohol testing and physicals (because this city loves us so much) they get to relieve the stress in their lives by never working another weekend again. You and I get nothing offered to us but a f**king pair of boots that I don't want or need. There was a time when it was good to be a firefighter in this town. No more. Since Jimmy Large became the biggest suckup chief we've ever had, we have received nothing but bear traps at every step. Whether I get shit or nothing at all I'll tell you that it makes me want to fight harder than ever to work against you MUTTS. Oh and to 10-20 #2 what would you expect for a total self promoter? FTM
Received via Email 10.21.10
Oh, I'm going to listen to my 45's
Ain't it wonderful to be alive
When the rock 'n' roll plays, yeah
When the memory stays, yeah
I'm keeping the faith
Hooray my UNION. FTM
TEAM: Praise be to you and Billy Joel.
Received via Email 10.21.10 I've said it before and I'll say it again (even though it will fall on mostly deaf ears): Political activities are great and are necessary in today's marketplace BUT, and this is the most important part, YOUR CANDIDATE MUST WIN OR YOU WILL PAY DEARLY. Get it? In order to do that you need two things; one, the ability to CHOOSE A CANDIDATE WHO CAN WIN, and two, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO SHOW THAT YOUR SUPPORT WAS A LARGE FACTOR IN THE CANDIDATE'S WIN. Without these two things you'r just pissing in the wind. The Po Po know it. They seem to have a knack for picking the right person almost every time. And look at what it got them. And please don't tell me this Mayor isn't paying us back for not supporting him. Only the totally ignorant would believe THAT load of crap. Since it's obvious to most that the Fire Chief can't make a decision without asking the Mayor and won't challenge the Mayor's vindictive attitude there's not a prayer in hell of us ever winning at the bargaining table or anywhere else. I'm surprised that the Chief hasn't been crowing about the new air packs that the city purchased recently. They're state of the art and will be a large improvement in member safety. And it should be agreed that the city did the right thing. Give credit where credit is due. This was a perfect opportunity to crow on how much the city cares about firefighter safety and (tongue in cheek) how it was the Mayor's idea. There's got to be some political advantage in there somewhere. We're reaping the fruits of a half baked show of support for a mayoral candidate that had potential but needed a driving force to get to the win. We COULD have been that force if only. . . but we weren't. Consequently we are going to feel the sting of a "payback" Mayor in a lot more ways than we thought possible. Political activities is a proven method of advancing one's position and getting things done. After all, the lobbyist's have been doing it forever. Political activities is nothing more that lobbying at the voting booth instead of behind closed doors or over dinner and a hooker. Today, in order to get recognized you have to get yourself out there and do something MORE than the other guy. That means hard work and sacrifice. We weren't even close on this Mayor race. Maybe next time we'll remember what happened THIS time and for the first time in forty years we'll get it right.
Dick Tully
Received via Email 10.21.10 Dave Fraser you said in your memo, just what all of us were thinking. Thanks.
Received via Email 10.21.10 "St. Petersburg gives up police pension legal fight to tune of $1.5 million"
One more concession to the PoPo's.
"The city has capitulated in its four-year legal battle with former officers who sued to get back money they paid into the pension fund while on the police force. In the coming weeks the city will pay back 351 former officers a total of $1.5 million. . ."
What was the city's best and final at the bargaining table? Zero, Zero and Zero? Yes, I think that was it. Say hello to the reason. 1.5 million would have made quite a raise for the fire fighters. But the Mayor decided to capitulate and give a bunch of cops who haven't worked for the city for years a pocket full of money.
One more thinly veiled underhanded payback slap in the mouth of firefighters by Mr. Hateful, Mayor Foster. The press would have it look like it's the fault of the attorneys who mishandled the case and ended up spending a boatload of city funds fighting in court. But the Mayor calls the shots and when Mr. Hateful decided to pay up without a fight the attorneys did what they were told. They all fell on their swords and got thrown under the bus so that the cops could win without further action. The cops were right to start with and Mr. Hateful knew it. But their support in the election got the quitters their money a whole lot sooner.
And one more thing. . .
IF IT WERE NOT FOR THE MORE THAN 300 PAID PROFESSIONAL, CAREER SERVICE FIRE FIGHTERS AND FIRE FIGHTER PARAMEDICS OF THE ST. PETERSBURG ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS - IAFF LOCAL 747...
BILL DUDLEY WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ELECTED TO OFFICE
WENGAY NEWTON WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ELECTED TO OFFICE
HERB POLSON WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ELECTED TO OFFICE. . .
Well a fat lot of good it did. Not one of the three made a squat of an attempt to support us at the bargaining table. No pressure. No influence. No common sense. No equality with the cops. No nothing. It would appear that if you look closely not one of the three of them support the fire fighters in more than lip service. When the chips are down they're nowhere to be found. Prove me wrong. Show me where they went to bat against a grudge carrying Mayor who was out to screw the fire fighters for not supporting him in the election. You can't because they didn't. They took our support and then rolled over on us. The Mayor's laughing his ass off because he controls these lackeys and all the other members of council. Just a fat Rick Baker.
So it should come as no surprise that that lump of coal disguised as boots in your stocking this year is the grand sum total of what Mr. Hateful thinks you're worth. And with the public clamoring for your pension to be taken away and demanding pay cuts and a reduction in manning it's not hard for him to have the support of the voters. Support for him to play nice with the cops but screw the fire fighters every chance he gets. Again, don't take my word for it. Just look around. The cops are coasting and the firefighters are considered less than human. Again.
Dick Tully
Received via Email 10.22.10 Well........... you can call it a concession but politics played not role. The cops had to sue the city to get their money back.
Received via Email 10.22.10 Re: 10.22.10/#1
Did you actually READ the post above yours? Of course the cops sued. That was part of the subject of the post. For four years the city had fought the cops over the pension contributions that weren't returned when the cops quit or got fired. The point is that they had already stretched the lawsuit out for four years and could have kept it going much longer. But somebody, Mr Hateful himself, intervened and told the attorneys to capitulate. Capitulate in thes case means "give up". That, in turn, creates a "concession" to the cops...by not continuing to fight and agreeing to give the quiters and others the 1.5 million could, without much of a stretch, be considered by many a "concession". And this concession is not a far stretch from being considered a "payback" for the support at election time. The cops not only win the suit (which they would have anyway) but the cops won't have to spend any more money on attorney fees and will get back all the money they already spent via the decision. See how that works junior? It's a win, win for the cops in a suit that could have gone on indefinitely at a much higher cost. Politics definitely played a role in this. Just ask yourself if you think this would have happened if it was the firefighters who had the lawsuit against the city. Hope this clears things up for you.
Dick Tully
Received via Email 10.22.10 Dick, I think the guy's point was that politics didn't help the cops since they had to sue anyway. Although it's not a reason to abandon politics, it is a valid point.
Received via Email 10.23.10 Well not to belabor the point, and yours is well taken, but the lawsuit was instigated long before Mr. Hateful ran for Mayor. In fact it could be implied that Mr. Hateful, who was a member of city council at that time, supported Mayor Baker who was no doubt in support of the lawsuit. One has to remember that the city responded to the suit brought by the cops. Then the city, after losing in two courts, purposely dragged the appeals, or whatever other recourse they had, on which prolonged the outcome and exacerbated the expense to the plaintifs. This could have gone on indefinitely.
But then the election came and the cops got behind Mr. Hateful. It's hard to say what kind of support the cops offered but it was enough that Mr. Hateful owed them big. It also meant that the support given to Mr. Hateful occured well AFTER the lawsuit had been started.
The intervention was instigated when Mr. Hateful. . . um, intervened. And you know there's no hard proof that he did. But the whole thing couldn't pass the smell test of any person with common sense. Compare the treatment of the cops to the treatment of any other city employees who depend on the collective bargaining process for their livelihood. Or any other city emplyees, period.
Your point puts the cart before the horse in the chronological order of what happened and how it happened. And I am definitely not calling for the abandonment of political activities. I have always encouraged the process and will continue to do so. However I stand solidly behind my thoughts posted here on 10/21/10-#2. And I think the cops are a shining example of the reasoning behind it.
Dick Tully
Received via Email 10.24.10 Dick, you have a good point--- I hadn't thought if it that way. You're probably right.
Received via Email 10.25.10 The vote for Mayor was only 2000 votes apart. If the cops their families and those they influenced all voted for Ford, she would have most likely won the election. The cops got lucky in this case but let the FFs down. I think the Union made a great decision backing Ford. They knew Foster was a baker clone. I think the cops let us down much more than our union did making that decision. You chew on that for a while.
Received via Email 10.26.10 You make a good point but let me try to clear up a few things.
It wasn't a case of who was backed by whom. It was a case of who worked the hardest to get whom elected. No one said the firefighter union made a bad choice or a wrong choice. Truth be told Ford may have been the right choice. We'll never know. But it's not about that, is it? It's about the support shown to the choices made or lack of. The cops didn't let us down. They had nothing to do with our choice or our amount of support. The union didn't let us down either. They endorsed a candidate and left it up to the members as to whether or not they would get off their asses and work for them. We obviously didn't work hard enough because in a city of 260,000 the difference in winning and losing was only, by your count, 2000 votes. It's time the firefighters recognized that blaming someone else for our failures won't cut it any more. We didn't do the job and the opposition won. Face it. When did we start letting the cops make our decisions for us anyway? The truth i
s that in this city the power is with the pea brained. All the cops did was prove it. Wound licking is over. What does it take to make every member see what it takes to back a winner. When will it get bad enough to make the members WANT to be successful? So far it hasn't happened.
I'm sure there's some who feel we were successful when we endorsed three members of the current city council. I suppose we could say that we should now have three members of council who are sympathetic to our problems and could at least influence a look into our situation. The fact is that no one apparently asked for assistance from any of the three when it came to having Mr. Hateful's ear during negotiations. At least not in any tangeable way. Now it's a given that times are difficult and money is scarce. Let's not beat that dead horse. But when the city can grudgingly find 1.5 million to pay cop quitters it's pretty obvious that there was money somewhere. We had three council members who were supposedly on our side. Not one of the three could find the money. But they obviously support Mr. Hateful in his payback to the cops. And 1.5 million just rolls off the back of the council.
There's really no point in whining about what's been done. But there is a point to learning from it. We lost the Mayor position by 2000 votes. We supported three members of the current sitting city council. And so far it's gotten us nothing. To a casual observer it would look like we're all not to damn bright. It's a given that this year and possibly two more years are in the crapper. Realistically that probably won't change in our favor. Since the members are going to be in a static state wouldn't it be a good time to hone some skills that might produce results in the future? Take this time and put it to use learning, planning, and getting ready for the next time. There's always a next time. Ask the Fire Chief. He's been saying that for years.
Dick Tully
Received via Email 10.26.10 I actually heard some PD officers talking the other day they said alot of good holding Foster signs has done them.
Received via Email 10.27.10 The real problem here is Fosters true intent. Supposedly a man of good values and morals, a good christian man. If he is holding a grudge against the Firefighters that would not be good for his reputation. Does he actually think he is doing the firefighters right or is he in fact holding a grudge. That is the real question. His true intent will soon come to light.
Received via Email 10.28.10 Re: Submission #1 10.27.10
Those of us who are a bit older and have had direct contact with dealing with council members have already dealt with a "Christian". In fact he was so much a "Christian" that he was the pastor of a large church here in St. Petersburg. He held sway with most people because they were positive a "Christian" and a pastor would always say and do the right thing. He pulled the wool over everyone's eyes for a very long time in this town. The one group who knew the REAL "Christian" pastor knew him as a liar and a backstabber.
Over the years he promised support for the fire fighters and then gave us none. He would come to the screening committee meetings and blather on about how he supported us and would always support us and then never did a damn thing. He would vote in favor of the fire fighters when it was necessary for us to appear before the council knowing that he was completely outvoted on the matter at hand. Then he'd be happy to tell the press how he supported the fire fighters in their time of need. He underhandedly met with members of the bargaining team at the Sandpiper restraunt, who with his support, defeated the incumbent president of Local 747 with lies and inuendo. (This Local hasn't always been the upstanding lily white one you see today) Oh yes my son, there are those of us old timers who have definitely felt the "love" of a good "Christian".
So if you think as most did then that just because a person is a "Christian" that they won't screw you over you need to think again. Going to church on Sunday doesn't make you a "Christian" any more than standing in your garage makes you a car. Furthermore, just what reputation are you talking about? And what about Mr. Hateful's "true intent"? That's a good question. Just what IS his true intent? It would seem a sufficient amount of light has already been shined on it to understand the intent. But I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and wait for the next shoe to fall. Beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing.
Dick Tully
Received via Email 10.28.10 Dick. Agreed. We have a great Christ. Just to many wolfs in sheep clothing. Good Post.
Received via Email 10.28.10 Mr. Tully's recollection of one of this cities passed Mayors is so Da Jah Vue. Dick, you probably dont know this but the City leaders just recently built a monument for this POS. The old NorthWest Youth center was razed and a Brand New 4 times bigger J. W. Cate center was erected. How else do you get something like this then by holding back your promising and loyal employees.
Received via Email 11.22.10 Cant wait for our new R day like the Chiefs and Captains have. That is going to be awesome. And it will finally prove once and for all they are not trying to divide us and them. Oh yeah its coming baby.
OPEN HOUSE 2010
Thursday December 9th
and
Friday December 10th
11:00 A.M. through 4:30 PM
St. Petersburg Association of Fire Fighters
Attention:
All members and friends of The St. Petersburg Association of Fire Fighters
5240 1st Avenue North
Come and enjoy the company of your brothers and sisters at the Annual Union Office get-together. We will be having a two-day event at the office to allow everyone a chance to reminisce over the events that have taken place during 2010, and to meet some of the new employees that have been hired during the past year.
There will be food and drinks provided for all, so come and enjoy yourself and finish out the year with pleasant memories.
Received via Email 11.22.10 Are the a**holes that choose to opt out of the union pool time and encourage others to damage the union invited to the Annual Open House? How about the use of the union's coolers, chairs, grill, and what not? Just askin.
Received via Email 11.25.10 I think we should opt out of cooking for them since they opt out of helping us receive better benefits for our families. In essence that's what they do when they try to get others to not donate. What a bunch of Self Serving, One Way LOSERS.
Received via Email 11.25.10 Dont forget to put the chiefs names who decided not to pay dues anymore. That would tell us a lot also.
Received via Email 11.26.10 I think it's pretty obvious what chiefs pay dues, just look at your last contract offer. Pretty obvious what division chief tried to railroad that abortion on you
Alan Jones Arbitration
Wednesday, December 8, 2010 (A-Shift Day) at the Municipal Services Center in conference room 800 starting at 9 a.m.
The arbitration deals with the arbitrary theft of available vacation time slots by St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue administration.
Tell everyone that this affects them and they need to be there. This is not only important to Alan but to you. Local 747 is arbitrating this case for every person in the bargaining unit!
Received via Email 11.29.10 Good reasons to be uneasy about retirement security
Received via Email 11.29.10 OK I am on duty 12/8, what is Alan Jones getting rammed with??
TEAM: See the red ink above...
Received via Email 11.29.10 Why cant others get some guts like Alan Jones has and fight those things that are totally unfair and against our rights? Hats off to you Alan for standing up to the machine. We know chief oz is back there somewhere trying work his magic. If he only had a brain !
Received via Email 11.29.10 The pricks steal the food right off of our plates but who steals from them?
Received via Email 12.01.10 Whats funny is whenever the city needs us we are always there. During this economic downtrend when all is hurting you would think the city would dip into there reserves to help there employees provide for their families better during the downtrend. Then when times are great down the road we could not have so much of a raise just because. But our great city does the opposite. They cut when we need it most and they give only in great abundance when sure we need it but not as bad. Maybe we should start acting like them and whenever they really need us we just don't deliver as much and when they don't need us we will give it our all. Sounds a little ridiculous doesn't it. What kind of people are running this city.
TEAM: What kind of people? The kind that rise to the top to ride a desk. The kind that forgot all too long ago that heroes wear blue. The kind that forgot that to someone out there, we saved their husband or wife or papap or meemaw. Don't sweat it. The public still loves us even if the dicks can't remember we work here.
The City of Hialeah Tells every fire fighters in the drop their services are no longer needed
The City of Hialeah called in all of the 1102 bargaining unit members that are in the drop plan for a meeting at 3:00 pm. Our members are in the drop
were handed a letter advising them that their services are no longer needed, do not come back to work beginning December 3rd.
The bargaining unit members are supposed to vote on an imposed contract this week.
Hialeah does not have a Lay-off provision in its contract.
Our City ordinance on the drop plan says the maximum duration for participation in the DROP shall not exceed 36 months, and participation will
end if the employee resigns, dies, or is terminated for good cause prior to the completion of the 36 months.
More to come in the future. Thank you all for your calls. This is a very serious case with state wide implications. I have already received phone
calls from 12DVP Larry Osborne, and State president they are both on it.
Thanks,
TEAM:So the next time someone in the DROP tells you that the union can do nothing for them -- they don't need to pay dues or they no longer need to contribute to the pool time account, remind them that if it weren't for our union contract language they might be on the street a day after DROPping.
CYPEN & CYPEN
NEWSLETTER
for
DECEMBER 2, 2010
Copyright, 1996-2010, all rights reserved
Stephen H. Cypen, Esq., Editor
. FLORIDA LEAGUE OF CITIES LAUNCHES FULL FRONTAL ASSAULT ON PENSIONS: Concluding that the Florida Legislature must act to help cities reduce “runaway” pension costs for firefighters and police officers before they “cripple municipal balance sheets,” The Florida League of Cities has released its 2011 Pension Reform Proposals. Here, with no editorializing on our part, are the eleven League Pension Reform proposals:
· Allow cities receiving insurance premium tax revenues under Chapters 175 or 185, Florida Statutes, (fire and police defined benefit pension plans) to use these funds to pay for current plan benefits. This would remove the state law mandate that specified insurance premium tax revenues be used only for "new or extra" pension benefits for firefighters and police officers.
· Require that determinations of average final compensation in public employee defined benefit pension plans include salary only, and do not include pay for overtime, unused leave times, or any other additional payments.
· Allow cities to convert firefighter and police officer defined benefit pension plans operating under Chapters 175 or 185, Florida Statutes, to the Florida Retirement System without losing insurance premium tax revenues.
· Allow cities desiring to place their public safety officers (fire and police) into the Special Risk Class of the Florida Retirement System the opportunity to purchase past credit service at an up-to-3% annual accrual rate rather than the current up-to-2%. This will remove a practical barrier to convert plans to the Florida Retirement System.
· Change the governance structure of pension boards of trustees to move away from having plan participants serve on the boards.
· Require 30 year cost projections on any proposed benefit increase to a defined benefit pension plan.
· Allow cities to reduce defined benefit pension levels within all plans if it is determined to be actuarially appropriate in order to stabilize the plan's funding and keep the plan properly funded.
· Restrain the state Division of Retirement's non-rule based administrative activities and restrict the Division's broad interpretations of the provisions in Chapters 112,175 and 185, Florida Statutes, that result in increased pension costs to cities.
· Provide flexibility to cities in the Florida Retirement System by allowing them to either retain a standard defined benefit plan, or at the employer’s option move to a different retirement plan, such as a hybrid, or modified “defined benefit/defined contribution” plan. This will provide flexibility to cities in the FRS to decide at the employer level which pension plan to provide to its employees. The goal would be to reduce long term tax payer impacts and provide a reasonable pension plan with economic diversification for plan members.
· Remove statutory disability presumptions for firefighters and police officers claiming disability pension or workers’ compensation benefits.
· Remove statutory provisions requiring that cities and other governments offer subsidized health, hospitalization and other insurance coverages to retirees.
Along with these proposals the League has published some general information about Florida defined benefit pension plans, including those for firefighters and police officers:
· There are approximately 450 different municipal defined benefit pension plans with a total asset market value of approximately $23 billion; 100,000 active employees; and 60,000 retirees/beneficiaries.
· Approximately 150 municipalities voluntarily participate in various membership classes of the Florida Retirement System, but make up less than 5% of the participants/members of FRS. FRS membership classes include special risk (fire and police), general employees, elected officials and senior management.
· Chapter 175, Florida Statutes, Municipal Firefighters’ Pension Fund was enacted in 1939. Chapter 185, Florida Statutes, Municipal Police Officers’ Pension Fund, was enacted in 1953.
· In 1986, the legislature revised Chapters 175 and 185, Florida Statutes, to establish minimum standards for a uniform retirement system for firefighters and police officers. The revision included a general change to compensation of plan’s board of trustees to include five members: two members selected by the city, two members selected by the plan participants/employees and the fifth member selected by the other four. Several local governments challenged constitutionality of the 1986 amendments, but Florida courts held they did not violate the constitution.
· In 1988 the legislature lowered the percentage charge of the tax on insurance premiums used to fund the plans (fire was lowered from 2% to 1.85% and police was lowered from 1% to .85%).
· Chapter 99-1, Laws of Florida, was signed into law by Governor Bush on March 12, 1999. That law made virtually all provision of Chapters 175 and 185, Florida Statutes, expressly applicable to all participating firefighter and police pension plans. All plans were required to meet specific minimum benefits standards and provide extra benefits from additional premium tax revenues.
A word to the wise… .
TEAM: C'mon. Time is running out. Get your form in now to hold on to your 5 hours of Pool Time!
Received via Email 12.05.10 Just in case you opt outers were wondering what OUR pool time donations are used for. Well for one, hours have been spent to preserve our contract and to make sure the language we have is the best or could be bettered. Just ask the Brothers from Hialeah that were just shit canned because they didn't have something as simple as an Article called Seniority, Layoff, and Recall. Yea we do have that in ours.
Received via Email 12.08.10 Jones (our) arbitration today was ...... !
Received via Email 12.08.10 We will find out in about 2 months. Think if our decisions took that long what would happen
Received via Email 12.10.10 Here is the solution to the time off problem. If they don't want to give us our slots and we can rarely get off on vacation time. Then by golly just take off whenever you please. CALL IN SICK, No time off problem now.
Received via Email 12.11.10 We try to take your slots and you FFs always find a way around us. Just ain't fair for us power hungry mongrels.
Received via Email 12.18.10 So who is now on our official SCAB list? Heard some rumors, but we need the facts. Who are the bums?
Received via Email 12.20.10 KB. SW. JW. All loser scabs.
Received via Email 12.26.10 Even the union's so called worst enemies who fight against - it seems- everything the union tries to accomplish, don't even drop from the union. All though they piss the rest of us off almost daily, they are not half the loser piece of crap these guys who just bail out are. Real low lifes. Very sad we have people like this responding to calls with us.
Received via Email 01.15.10 Good Morning President Newton:
I honestly and firmly believe that the current problems and the future problems for Local 747 are the most deliberate and thought out intentions that the city has ever employed. Backed by the Federal Government, the media, the League of Cities, and the ungrateful citizens of St. Petersburg in general, the future we now face is one of dangers and intents never before seen in the history of this Local. The current Board of Directors of the Local has faced more vicious and hateful tactics than any before them and the future isn't going to be any better. All of these entities are working on a daily basis to undermine what they see as over the top benefits granted to Firefighters & Paramedics in the past.
In recognition of these facts I want to express my continued support of the leadership of this Local and I'm proud to do so. No president in the past has had to stand in the face of the underhanded attacks on so many fronts at the same time. And the Board has made good decisions in defining the methods with which we will fight back. There will be those who cry about the funding. There always is and always will be. But the small amount requested is a minscule amount compared to what stands to be lost if the Local's leadership is not successful. There is no free lunch and all must acknowledge that. We, as a group, have already had much taken away and now the bloodsucking media and hateful public have an unprecedented opportunity to bring down the very people who are ready to protect their lives and property on a daily basis. These ungrateful hate mongers must be met with force and fact and cannot be allowed to go unchallenged.
I wish you, sir, the Board of Directors, and the membership of this Local the very best in the fight against those who would spit on the fire service. Ungrateful Council members, a vindictive Mayor who uses payback to run his office, and a Fire Chief who is woefully lacking in leadership skills are the current enemy. There will be more. At different levels. At different times. And we must be ready for all of them. I appreciate the work you continue to do President Newton and also appreciate Bill Mott for his unwavering dedication to Local 747, I.A.F.F.
Respectfully
Dick Tully
Past President, Local 747, I.A.F.F.
Received via Email 01.15.10 Has anyone ever wondered, who is this Dick Tully guy anyway? Well as evidenced here in his latest post it is now more than ever, apperant that he is a true believer in this Union. Many of you dont go back far enough to have ever worked with Dick, myself included but he came from the era of lets bust some knees and get this BS behind us. Just for a brief recap and I might not be 100% but here goes. For the past 8 years we have had Newton as our leader, before that Pete Grasso, Feinberg, M. Moore, Wimmers, Chris Davis, Harry Wienmen. There may be others I just dont know. What I am getting at is that Mr Tully goes back 30+ years and he still cares enough about this Local to give his points of view, recommendations, and an occasional show of gratitude. God bless you Mr. Tully, with your prayers we still have a chance. I can only add Ditto to what you said in your post. It was dead on and might not be what some want to hear but the truth aka freedom has never been free. secured
Contract Negotiatons
Bargaining w/ City of St.Petersburg
Day: Thursday, January 27, 2011
MEETING CANCELLED DUE TO THE LOSS OF OUR BROTHERS AT SPPD!
Room: 800 MSC
From: Us
Date: January 22, 2011
Did everyone get their information packet in the mail from the Union? Did you open it? The most important piece of information included in the packet has to deal with attacks on our contract and pension plan and how well we're prepared to react to proposed negative changes. We're currently under attack both internally and externally. While you know much about what the internal attacks by our fire administration are all about, please take the time to read the latest information about an external threat that's hot off the press. It's known as HB - 303. If House Bill 303 is passed into law, it will be the most devastating piece of legislation ever aimed at our pension plan. The bill's sponsor is Representative Fredrick Costello. Again, please take the time to read the bill. In fact, take the time to call 'Fred' and tell him what you think about his bill. An attack on Florida's pension plans is not the answer to turning the economy of this state around!
HB - 303 deals with FRS, ch. 175 (Fire) and ch. 185 (Police). The Bill's text starts on line ninety-six (96). If this bill is allowed to pass into law, everyone's future will change dramatically. The multiplier will change downward significantly for everyone. No more retiring at the long awaited age of 50 for the guys that come on at a younger age. The bill calls for all of us to work longer to attain less. If you're considering the DROP plan - forget it. It's gone! And if you're currently in the DROP, it will stop with the bill's passage into law leaving you in limbo as to the status of your employment. Will you still have a job? Will you be allowed to contribute to your pension again? This bill will have us all working until 'we' drop!
We've said all that to say this: Support your Union. Support it's initiatives. There is nobody in Tallahassee or in St. Petersburg Fire & Rescue's front office that's fighting for you more than your Brothers and Sisters in Local 747's front office. When your Union calls -- answer the call. Find a babysitter. Wash the dog another day. Reorganize your sock drawer tomorrow.
Fraternally,
Us
Received via Email 01.23.10 That bill is no joke. 1.6 multiplier No DROP after 2012 and cannot collect until age 55. Just a few of the nice things that they want to shove down your throat. Anyone not able to retire now better be attending union meetings and be really concerned about this. If not. Well, kiss it all good bye. And it will be YOUR own fault if it happens and you were never involved.
Received via Email 01.23.10 Damn, I tried to read the entire HB-303 but my blood pressure went so high that I nearly passed out. As mentioned in an earlier post brothers and sisters, we are on the verge of being bent over and raped. There is no other term to be used here, we have low life scum suckers that don't give a damn about us as public safety workers. Reductions to pension multiplier, increase the age of retirement, increase the % cost to buy out of the plan earlier, eliminate the drop even if you are still in it. OMG, I see no reason in this bill for anyone to continue taking risks above or beyond what they are spelling out in the provisions. I am talking about Haz Mat, dive operations, high angle or swift water rescue's, or any of our coveted little feel good things that we all enjoy doing for the fine loving citizens of our communities. I cant even see the worthwhile of contracting medical problems while dealing with EMS calls. This proposal wants to do away with all of the current presumptive cancers and such that we might contract during our careers and replace them with a thank you but you knew what you were getting into, line of BS. OUR hands are going to be full with this attack and the enemy is hoping that they will be able to overwhelm us by attacking on all sides using your tax dollars, knowing that most of our brothers and sisters wont be able to fend off such attacks because of financial restraints. If we sit back and enjoy the show then we will all need to sit around the dining room tables at the stations for many more years to come.
Received via Email 01.23.10 The letter that I got from the union the other day talks about needing to increase due by almost $5 a paycheck. Are you kidding me? We're not going to get anywhere by throwing pennies at it. Someone told me that we were looking for $10 initially but the Lealman rep didn't think his people would go for that. Winnie Newton........................... INCREASE OUR DUES TO WHATEVER LEVEL WILL GET US THE POLITICAL CLOUT TO MAKE THIS THING DIE! I AM ALL IN!
Received via Email 01.26.10 It is obvious that our Invisible Adminis-traitor is spreading his seeds of mis-information while visiting his fire stations. Here are a couple of his patented lies again during his visits to the Fire Stations. What I find the hardest to believe is how willing his hosts are, in ref to accepting his lies, spreading the word without first trying to see if there is anything near the truth. Just heard during his recent visits is the extended R-day, it seems the Chief wants you to believe that the union is unwilling to except 2 additional R- days (48 hours) in exchange for making you give up your 1st amendment rights and take the forced mandatory drug tests. In case you haven't been keeping up Ronald, #1 its your right NOT to give up you constitutional rights, and #2 there is a proposal being prepared for the State Legislative body called HB-303 that seeks to END ALL DROP programs 12-31-2012. That means exactly what it says END ALL DROP, no matter where you stand you will be done. So as you can see it doesn't make sense to give away your 1st amendment rights until the bottom gets shook out as they say. The other lie our Administrative wizard is telling the troops, only those at top pay by the way, is that Winnie will not except a 1% pay raise for everyone. WOW what a deal, first of all listen to this, When the membership excepted the deal from the city for the 2.5% pay raise a couple of years ago when the city was trying to claim Financial Urgency part of the deal was that we would work with them in future years. That is what lead us to the current first year offer of 0% and the union was willing to accept that 1 year provision as long as the pay steps were guaranteed to continue. the city accepted that and the Mayor promised that he would continue giving those in the steps their increases. So far there have been many in our ranks that have received a raise on their anniversary dates. Most of us remember how important those step raises where to us and our families, well now the invisible man is once again leaving out some important info. The 1% being offered is not new money but the money that would be taken from those step raises and redistributed to us in the form of a raise. I am saddened to hear that their are so many that are willing to screw over our brothers and sisters by taking away their raises so we could get 1%. Top paid FF is $58 K so we are talking $580 for the year, Medic $70 K=700 a year, Lt. $74 K= $740 K a year. Yeah that sounds like a fair deal. For this the City only wants to control your 10 vacation slots and force the physicals. Yeah we are still being offered a shit sandwich with a douche cola, and the laxative Chief is planting his suppositories with little resistance. Wake up, read what is coming for you and stand firm or get used to seeing the world while looking through your legs. FTM's and show them that WE still have a brain and send them back behind the curtain.
TEAM: Here lies the classic example of why every member needs to attend negotiation sessions. We catch them in far more lies at these meetings than we ever let on but that's not the good stuff. The good stuff comes when you've shown up and actually hear what's really going on, only to find that the administration has a different story when they come to visit. It's far better to witness a lie as it's being told then to later wonder what the truth actually is.
Received via Email 01.26.10 As a long time member and one who's made more than a few union meetings and nego meetings I'd like to make an important point. When our union leadership has something to say in a union meeting, it gets tape recorded. When they're negotiating, it gets recorded also. When it comes time to inform us all as to what's going on, they call meetings that we attend in numbers that amount to shit and they mail out information that we sit on the desk till it's too late to use. The bad shit's all on us brothers and some of us are being played like a fiddle. If we don't know how much money is in the bank or is being spent it's not because the union's hiding anything. It's our union and it's accountable to us. Just like the Invisible Man, the Punisher and Mr. Pumpkinhead, we spread information too. The difference is ours is backed by a recording or a paper trail. Theirs is scripted and sometimes comes out f++ked up because it's hard to keep a lie straight. I've yet to catch a story that came out of the union hall that sounded too good to be true that some firefighter didn't get twisted through TRANSLATION. The bottom line is if you go by the union hall you can review facts. If you listen to the other 3 wise men you get a story that's usually 180 out and always paints the union as trying to screw you. What is the motivation of men who share nothing job related with you but bad information? As Winnie often says, when it sounds like their filling your head full of shit, call his cell phone and put the shit spreader on it.
HB 303 (Pension Reform Legislation) to be pulled from further Consideration.
PBA Leaders Persuade Sponsor to withdraw his legislation, pledge to work together in the future.
By now you have almost certainly heard of and are very concerned about HB 303 by Representative Fred Costello (Republican), a bill that would have changed pension plans in these significant ways:
· Raised normal retirement age to 55
· Eliminated the DROP completely
· Reduced the 3% accrual rate down to 1.6% for everyone including Special Risk
· Capped employer contributions at 15% (most employer contributions are now higher)
· Removed overtime from pension calculations
· Changed the rules on extra benefits with 185 premium tax dollars (local municipal police pension plans)
· Changed pension board trustee membership (local municipal police pension plans)
And so on...
We felt these pension reforms were extreme, so PBA leaders met with Representative Costello this morning to share our concerns. Representative Costello indicated a willingness to address our issues and work with us to craft legislation that helps alleviate the current budget deficit while protecting your hard earned retirement benefits.
The Florida PBA convinced Representative Costello to withdraw his bill in exchange for our pledge to work with him on future pension legislation. We are very appreciative to him for giving us an open door and showing a sincere willingness to cooperate on this huge issue.
The next step will be a meeting between PBA, House Government Operations Committee Chairman Jimmy Patronis, and Representative Costello to offer our ideas and listen to theirs on pension reform.
We will keep you posted.
Received via Email 01.28.10 Word of warning, while we have learned that the original presenter of HB-303 has seen the light and has withdrawn his bill, now is not the time to go take a vacation. You can be assured that there will be another form coming from yet another disillusioned lawmaker before this is over. Continue to support the local unions and the state organizations in their continued efforts to stay on top of these crippling bills. While we PTB we can also FTM's.
IT'S WORTH THE READ....
Received via Email 01.30.10 City workers deserving of 'lavish' pensions
Updated On: Jan 21, 2011 (14:14:00)
John McCarron, Chicago Tribune December 28, 2010 |
Maybe those defined-benefit pensions aren't so lavish after all.
Maybe there are some jobs so dangerous, so demanding of steady nerves and sound judgment under pressure, that the men and women who work them deserve the benefit of our doubts.
Even when times are tough, even when most of us can only wish we could retire at age 50 with 75 percent of pay, maybe we should take a deep breath, dial down the envy, and just say: "Thanks, guys. You deserve every penny."
Chicago firefighters Edward Stringer and Corey Ankum will never get to enjoy their retirements or their defined-benefit pensions. Their lives were cut short last Wednesday morning after they dashed into a fire-compromised building on the South Side to look for survivors, only to become victims themselves when a truss roof collapsed. More than a dozen other firemen were injured, two seriously.
Stringer and Ankum died as heroes, and the collective heart of Chicagoland goes out to their families. Ankum was a father of three, including a 1-year-old. Stringer was older, divorced with a grown daughter. He liked to ride his motorcycle, walk his beagle Roscoe and, when the need arose, mow his neighbor's lawn and shovel her walkway.
Point is, the biggest problem I had last Wednesday, besides writing this column, was finding the bad bulb on a dysfunctional string of Christmas tree lights. How about you? Were you hustling to get a year-end report written before Christmas break? Or wading through shoppers at Oakbrook Centre looking for that perfect something for a certain someone?
Fact is, most of us don't have to dash into a still-smoldering building by dawn's early light to see if there's someone lying lifeless in the black soot. Or, for that matter, approach a darkened automobile pulled over on the shoulder of a lonely expressway at 3 in the morning.
So while we may joke about cops' supposed affinity for doughnuts, or cluck-cluck about those on-duty firemen who got caught recently helping a buddy renovate his house, very few of us would want their jobs when a 3-11alarm is sounded or when the words "shots fired" crackle over the police radio.
These are special jobs that require the men and women who perform them to take extraordinary risks under extraordinary circumstances. So maybe, just maybe, they deserve to be compensated in special ways. And maybe, just maybe, one of those ways ought to be a defined-benefit pension with a high enough dollar amount and low enough eligibility threshold to match the risks involved.
None of the above is intended to excuse the excessive public-sector retirement benefits we've been hearing about lately. Shame on the retired Highland Park parks director who gets $166,332 annually thanks to a mega-raise in his last year and on the Homewood-Flossmoor school teacher/administrator who allegedly is pulling down $238,882 a year.
Incessant reporting about these and other excesses has made the public uber cynical about public-sector retirement programs. Many are calling for an end to defined-benefit pensions altogether, or at least a reform that puts new hires in defined contribution, 401(k)-type plans common in the private sector. (Never mind that the average retired teacher in Illinois gets about $43,000 a year.)
Such a reform probably is inevitable, given the dire state of public-sector budgets at all levels. So let's go ahead and tell the paper-shufflers and building inspectors and driver's license examiners that they can play mutual fund roulette with the rest of us. But somehow I don't begrudge giving a better deal to the cops and the smoke-eaters.
My dad was a volunteer firefighter as a young man and went on to become chief of our small town's fire department. He told me once that, when he was a rookie, he passed out fighting a smoky flax fire in a textile mill in North Providence, R.I. Would have been a goner, too, but for another fireman who "went back in" and found "Mac" unconscious on the floor.
So I'm prejudiced. I wouldn't be writing this except for a guy who "went back in." And if an ample pension is all he or she wants for taking that risk, I'd say we're all getting a heck of a deal.
John McCarron teaches, consults and writes about urban affairs.
Received via Email 02.01.10
From Representative Costello:
Members, Legislative Aides and Interested Parties:
While I remain fully committed to comprehensive, equitable and sustainable pension reform, by now you may be aware that I have pulled HB 303. So why did I pull it? Two reasons:
1) I am advised there will likely be a proposed committee bill from the Government Operations Subcommittee addressing pension reform. Had I known that six weeks ago, I would have presented the pension reform draft directly to Chairman Patronis rather than filing such a significant bill as a Rookie Representative. In case you wonder about my appetite for and willingness to be a lightning rod to advocate for significant pension reform, I have been working with Kraig Conn, Deputy General Counsel, Florida League of Cities, on pension reform for many years while serving as Mayor of Ormond Beach. Be assured that my appetite for pension reform has not diminished!
2) Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson (incoming President of the Florida Sheriffs Association) suggested compromises that the PBA and FOP representatives accepted that will hopefully work for all parties. Obviously I have no authority to accept such compromises on behalf of the House … but I can recommend them! Sheriff Johnson is a valuable resource and I’m confident he will make himself available should the Committee need additional input. In return for the PBA’s agreement to jointly present the significant compromise reforms (briefly outlined below) we discussed to Chairman Patronis, I told the PBA and FOP representatives I would pull the bill to show my good faith. Obviously, I fully expect the PBA to complete our good faith partnership and formally agree to those compromises. If they don’t, in addition to being greatly disappointed at their lack of following through on what they agreed to do, I will advocate those reforms directly to Chairman Patronis and to members of the Committee. Obviously, there are many other stakeholders from whom we need to hear, but I believe the reforms discussed will benefit all employee groups.
Please note that a significant provision of the HB 303 was that all benefits earned to date would remain unchanged. That should be obvious. Beyond that, in such matters the beginning point on both sides is exaggerated. While much of the criticism of HB 303 came from reducing the multiplier to 1.6 for all employees, the same as our teachers and many of our State employees currently receive, you should know that the bill authorized the State or local government employer to add a defined contribution for our high hazard employees. That seems to have been routinely missed. I continue to believe that this hybrid of a defined benefit plan with additional contributions offers the best plan for our employees. But that is up to the Committee and House to decide. The 401k style investment plan would remain an option for those who may prefer more portability and immediate vesting … and it is entirely possible that the ultimate House Bill, Senate Bill and/or Governor’s proposal will be solely a defined contribution plan. Additionally, HB 303 was designed to force correction of the abuses of the DROP plan and excessive overtime loading by eliminating them. I believe reasonable compromises have been proposed and agreed to and thus (if the Committee, House, Senate and Governor agree) we will not have to totally eliminate those benefits. Lastly, we have discussed 15% of payroll as a consistent pension funding amount for our high hazard employees (and less for our other employee classes) so governments can budget for future expenses. Any necessary funding to meet current unfunded liabilities would be additional. With such a plan, employees will be fully confident that the benefits will be there when they need them. I highly recommend that we adopt a plan based upon a fixed percentage of payroll for our various employment classes to limit our exposure. In the good times, the pension fund excess gains will create a buffer for the bad times. When there is enough of a buffer, additional one time pension contributions could be made without increasing the potential for future unfunded liabilities by increasing the multiplier.
While the significant reforms outlined in HB 303 are in line with the recommendations of several policy groups (including FSU’s LeRoy Collins Institute for Public Policy, Florida Tax Watch and the James Madison Institute) that have studied the matter extensively, my purpose in outlining what some considered optimal and others considered extreme measures was to get the attention of the union negotiators so they would know it is time to get serious. That initial mission has been accomplished. Now, it’s up to the Committee, House, Senate and Governor … “let’s get to work!”
Dan Barrow
Legislative Aide to Representative Fred Costello
TEAM: Every member of this Local needs to be on a bus on its way to Tallahassee when we're called to move!
Received via Email 02.02.10 Just as I post back on 1.28.11 we are in for the bend over of our lives. Will it still be worthwhile to put ones life on the line knowing you are worth the same as the grounds keeper at city hall, our the libarian? Factor in the additional hours that we put in during our years of service compared to a regular 8 to 5 worker and you will see that these morons are not thinking this out. I am on duty 624 hours more in the course of a year (2704) than the 8-5 (2080 hours) person. Over my 25 years that means 15,600 more hours or 7.5 of their years. Now how can that be fair and equitable? I am watching for the right time to jump and it might be coming alot sooner that I was thinking. Get your bills paid off now brothers and sisters. Our time is ending and we wont be able to stop it.
Received via Email 02.02.10 Just so everybody knows HB303 was removed from the legislative docket on Friday. Gone but not forgotten, I'm Sure.
Scott calls for sweeping changes to Florida's pension plan
Gary Fineout, 02/01/2011 - 10:16 PM
Gov. Rick Scott, making good on a campaign vow, outlined on Tuesday a sweeping overhaul of the retirement system used by state workers, police officers, teachers and firefighters.
Scott maintained he could save as much as $2.8 billion over a two-year period by enacti ng a whole host of changes, including forcing state workers and others to pay their pension costs for the first time.
Scott not only wants to require employees to pay 5 percent of their annual salaries to pensions, but he also wants to require new state workers to enroll in a pension plan similar to the 401(k) styled plans used by private employers. Unlike the current defined benefit plan, the future retirement benefits are based on how well investments perform.
The governor also called for the close of the Deferred Retirement Option Program to any new enrollees as of this July. DROP as it is also known allows state workers to remain on the job for five years yet get an alternative retirement lump-sum payment .
Scott's proposal also called for the elimination of cost-of-living adjustments for retirement benefits on service after July 1 and a reduction in the annual service credit to 1.6 percent for rank-and-file employees and a cut to 2 percent for those in the special risk class.
"Government workers, like private sector employees, deserve the opportunity to save for the future, but the taxpayers shouldn't be asked to foot the bill alone," Scott said.
The Scott administration on Tuesday refused to give details on this budget proposal -- including whether or not the $2.8 billion would actually flow back into the state budget. The state only pays about $700 million a year right now in the Florida Retirement System. The rest of payments actually come from school districts and county governments.
Doug Martin of the American Federation of State County Municipal Employeescalled Scott's bid to close down the current defined benefit plan to new hires a "cataclysmically stupid idea." Martin said the existing fund would have problems in future years as it pays out retirement benefits with no new money coming in.
Martin also said there was no reason to make the ch anges recommended by Scott since the Florida Retirement System is better funded that many other state pension plans.
"Future legislators will curse them for doing this," Martin said. "They will take the best retirement system in the country and change it but for no reason than that's what the Tea Party and Wall Street wants."
Rep. Alan Williams, D-Tallahassee, also criticized Scott's proposal, saying it amounts to a five-percent "tax" on state employees who have gone years without a raise.
"I fail to see how the governor's proposal concerning the Florida Retirement System can improve the economy," Williams said. "I predict his plan will stymie consumer spending and hurt our state's economy."
State lawmakers have already vowed to make changes on pensions during the upcoming 2011 session. Sen. Jeremy Ring, D-Parkland, has said that his plans to roll out a bill within the next two weeks. Ring said his legi slation would require state workers to pay for their pensions, but he said the final number would be left up to theSenate Budget Committee led by Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales.
Bargaining Session
Day: Thursday, February 24, 2011
Time: 10:00 a.m.
Room: 700 MSC
They're giving away free room air!
Received via Email 02.07.10 Hey, since everyone from the governor to the fire cheif are looking to break it off in our ass, when are we going to vote on this emergency fund? If we wait too long we'll all be digging in our pockets at a much bigger rate. Come on union guys lets mail that thing out.
Received via Email 02.08.10 F the felon in Tallahassee, He has as much respect for you as the city admin..
Received via Email 02.10.10 They are doing a media blitz against our pensions
These came out same day.
Received via Email 02.10.10 Great videos on the home page Mr. Webmaster.
TEAM: We're in for a beating, otherwise.
Received via Email 02.13.10 The vote on the emergancy fund is coming to you next week. The Constitution and By-laws required 30 days notice, followed by the voting (15 days) process. If any member has moved in the past year, now would be a good time to let the Union know so you wont miss out on your opportunity to get a chance to save our world.
Received via Email 02.15.10 FYI FTM
Steve Watkins - SCAB
Keith Brahm - SCAB
Jeff Wayne - SCAB
Randy Tokotch - SCAB
Received via Email 02.15.10 Wowzers. Randy is now a scab? His greatest contribution to the union has always been to question what Winnie's been doing with all that pool time he uses. We're facing the biggest shit storm of our lives and Randy Tokotch is no longer paying his fair share to help win the fight while Winnie's pissing away more of our pool time in Tallahassee. That's right, you're riding arounnd on a fire engine somewhere, fat, dumb and happy paying no dues while we're all carrying your dead ass and Winnie's fighting for us (but not you 4 scabs) up in the state capital. FTM
Received via Email 02.15.10 What a surprise about Randy. He's always popping off about Winnie taking off the 2nd half on pool time to go home and sleep. I've worked for him b4 for the 2nd half so I know that's bullshit. Winnie is Randy's lame excuse for doing nothing over an entire career.
Received via Email 02-15-11 Uh yeah. from SB 1128:
185 The premium tax provided by this chapter shall in all cases be
186 used in its entirety to provide extra benefits to firefighters,
187 or to firefighters and police officers if, included
All looks good except the word EXTRA get struck. The extra is our COLA.
Lets quit worrying about what some guys who have never done anything for us except show up to collect a paycheck are doing and focus on what we're going to do.
Received via Email 02-15-11 The only thing Randy is good for is eating and belittleing
Received via Email 02-17-11 randy is a puss
Received via Email 02-17-11 I am ashamed to call myself a union member after what the democrats did in Wisconsin. That is NO way to conduct themselves as elected officials. What if we walked off the job because we didn't like a policy from the city or administration? What is next from the democrats when they don't get their way...go off in a corner and throw another temper tantrum? Each one of those Senators should be RECALLED!
Received via Email 02-19-11 They just did what Jeff Wayne, Steve Watkins, Keith Brahm, and Randy Tokotch did.
Received via Email 02-20-11 Ballots are due March 8th.
Received via Email 02-21-11 The "forgotten 157" still have theirs.
Received via Email 02-21-11 To 2/17 #2. You sad little nut job. Its obvious that their actions(Democrats or not!) were to support, and make the population think about what their R Gov is doing to the real people of that state..Its not like they were answering an alarm to a structure fire, or medical call. By god man, forget the politics and support the union! OMG what a FINO!
By the way Wayne,Watkins,Brahm & Tokotch are card holding, fox watching Repub.'s!
Received via Email 02-21-11 Then Maybe tokotch shouldnt be allowed in the chow kitty. Maybe then he will lose weight.
Received via Email 02-21-11 I find it laughable that the city wanted us to give our holiday time away to keep people on the job and then they went ahead and cut more positions anyways. Now the mayor says to the lost 157 that they won't pay for a cola but the union might. Yeah right. With what? It looks like we're just holding on as it is and the assholes at city hall keep trying to get us to give benefits away while the other assholes in fire admin keep trying to rob us. Hey! how bout that driver engineer program. Howz that going Large? What could you possibly offer us that we wouldn't suspect you of selling our first born child first?
Received via Email 02-21-11 I heard that a certain 4A Lt is telling admin everything that goes on at the station and things that are being said. So be careful of red heds.
Received via Email 02-22-11 Less work, another R day, and all the Overtime we want. It is tough being a DC. Just a tad and we will be over that 6 figure mark. Sorry about the rest of you losers.
State Senate tones down pension reform plan.
"Under the changes proposed in an amendment by Sen. Jack Latvala, R-St. Petersburg, the Senate would no longer require all new city employees to enroll in a 401(k)-style retirement plan, potentially threatening the financial health of traditional defined benefit plans."
Received via Email 02-24-11 Come on it takes alot of efort for zamp to backstab people and lie. Thats why they need the time off to plot their next screwing.
SPAFF Rank and File Contract Negotiations
DATE: Wednesday, March 2, 2011
LOCATION: MSC Building, Conference Room 700
Time: 10 a.m.
(Last time they gave away free room air. If you weren't there, you missed out on guessing the temperature of that air!)
Received via Email 02-28-11 Let the city declare impasse, Winnie. They can only impose bullshit on us for one year and I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees. FTM
Received via Email 03-01-11 As in the words of Charlie Sheen. duh WINNING.
Received via Email 03-03-11 In case your not aware, anyone that sees the pile of whale shit put forth by the city as their "Best and Final" as worthwhile must have grown up under a rock. Our Chief Administrator and his team have once again shown that they think nothing about the morale of our members and they have shown the I got mine mentality. 4 of our brothers and sisters thought the last contract proposal was a good idea, I cant see even that many falling for it this time. Lets face it the promotion list is frozen so we are all in this together for awhile. I can see a few of those selfish SOB's in the DROP voting for it tho. I pray we all open our eyes to this and listen carefully to what will be told during the 2 days of explination and bury this thing with a resounding 100% rejection vote. Lets tell the Mayor, we have no confidence in the decisions being made by our Spitefull Administrators. Large, Wimberly, and Knight are working for themselves and no one else. They have allowed for staffing levels to be cut, told council the squad would be out of service, then took 3 firefighters out of HQ, kept the squad in service most days, and now they seem to once again have found numerous reasons to pull people back in off of shift duty to restock the good ole boy club and left us hanging short and creating un needed overtime. How is it that our staffing levels cans dictate that 15 people need to be hire and they only hire 12? Once again there are many slots that need to be covered by overtime which leads to denial of time off slots due to being in the hire back mode and we are told its our sick people that are causing the shortages. Yeah I agree, its the Sick in the head people that are watching our department go down the tubes. Vote No for this cow pie and send the MUTT's another Message that we aint buying into the stupidity.
Received via Email 3-3-11 Let me see.........ah yes, it's Thursday. That means tomorrow at 5 pm Large will spit out a happy message and church up the city's contract proposal before he gets out of Dodge. What can a man who doesn't participate in my pension or contract tell me about voting on my issues? I'll wait to see what the union's got to tell me. I pay the union to advise me on what's best for me, Jimmy while the city pays YOU to advise me on what's best for YOU! FTM and you're one..
Received via Email 3-3-11 Exactly! Let's all bet when Mr. Pumpkinhead busts a move to start pitching this shit in all the firehouses. He hasn't been around the stations since the last bad offer.
NOTICE
A Tentative Agreement has been reached between the
City of St.Petersbrug
and
IAFF Local 747
There will be two (2) days of explanation
Monday, March 7th 2011 @ 09:00 A.M – 12:00 & 13:00 P.M - 16:00 (C Shift)
&
Tuesday, March 8, 2011 @ 09:00 A.M – 12:00 & 13:00 P.M - 16:00 (A Shift)
These meetings will be held @ Union office 5240 1st Ave No. St. Petersburg, FL 33710
These meetings are for you, the member, to become fully knowledgeable about the current offer made by and agreed to by the bargaining parties. Your attendance is beneficial for you to make an educated decision on an issue that concerns your future.
Received via Email 3-4-11 Wow, C shift said they were doing a sick out on Friday because of the crappy city offer and boy did they deliver.
Received via Email 3-4-11 All I need to know is that the ....NO.... line is still the bottom line on the ballot.
Received via Email 3-6-11 Make a difference vote NO. Scabs can't vote - awesome.
Received via Email 3-7-11 Yeah but the scabs sure would like their drop going from 5 to 7 years. Too bad the loser scabs still get benefits why the rest of us have to pay for their lazy asses.
Received via Email 3-8-11 Its not that they are lazy. I mean they havent carried their own loads in quite some time if in fact ever.
Received via Email 3-8-11 Hey Chief Large. Why don't you come to my fire station and try to convince me that theres anything in this contract offer that I can't live without. This thing is all about you and the fact that you're trying to take advantage of us. Lets take this sucker to impasse. City council can't fu*k it up much worse than you and we're coming into an election year. I'll take my chances with people who don't pretend to like me. FTM (that would be you) and the scabs.
Press Release
Florida Professional Firefighters and the International Association of Firefighters launch media campaign
The Florida Chamber of Commerce, Associated Industries of Florida and the Governor and Legislature have been misleading the public on pension, dues deductions and collective bargaining.
Tallahassee, FL March 9, 2011: We’re here today to announce a new statewide campaign to refute the misleading statements and commercials being spread by the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida. The companies that they represent and the dues they pay to Mark Wilson’s and Barney Bishop’s salaries come from the very same companies that were responsible for the recession here in Florida and the fraud committed on the public by inflated real estate deals and mortgage derivatives.
Pension Attacks
Now they want to move in and steal firefighters, teachers and other public employee’s future by getting their hands on their pension funds. Money these employees have had deducted from their paychecks for their retirement years. They want to take away their pension and give them a 401k, no more than a Christmas savings account to depend on for their final years. Why, so the very same money managers can get their hands on the retirement funds churn them with fees and commissions and milk them dry.
Governor Scott’s proposed 5 percent State Income Tax on public employees does not even help offset the unfunded actuarial liability; it simply transfers the employee’s dollars to the state budget to pay for expenses his office generates and to offset the state’s budget deficit. If public employees are hit with this new tax, can the rest of Floridians be far behind?
The Florida Retirement System is an award winning system, the best run in the US; it has the lowest costs and is currently overfunded by any actuarial standards. In fact it is so well funded that the Florida Legislature has skimmed almost 13 billion dollars from the fund since 1998. The Florida legislature has removed earnings from the retirement trust fund for 13 straight years because it was overfunded. These earnings came from employee and employer contributions to the pension fund. They have subsidized legislative pet projects and budget deficits for over a decade. Even in 2009, the retirement system’s worst year ever, when it lost over 19% in net earnings, the legislature still had the audacity to come in and pull nearly 350 million dollars from the pension fund. Mark my words, despite all the rhetoric you have and will hear about the condition of the pension fund this year, hundreds of millions of dollars will be taken from the trust fund to fund the Governor’s office expenses and other state needs during this legislative session.
Dues Deductions
Florida is a Right to work State; no one pays Union dues unless they choose to voluntarily. If an employee chooses to not pay union dues, that’s their choice, there are no consequences. The Union will still represent those employees and grant them every benefit that those members who pay dues receive. Union dues deductions are a right guaranteed by Florida’s Constitution, neither Senator Thrasher, Governor Scott or anyone else has the right to stop them. The people of Florida granted all employees the choice to belong to a Union or not, to pay union dues or not, and only the people of Florida can take that right away.
Fraternally,
Gary Rainey, President
Florida Professional Firefighters
And to think that the members of the St. Petersburg Association of Fire Fighters just today voted down a dues increase of less than 5 bucks to help fight this. We can't get you off of your ass to fight the good fight now we can't get you off of your wallet either. At least you'll have plenty of spare room in that wallet.
Received via Email 3-9-11 At least we are getting that backstabbing loser Polson out of there
Received via Email 3-9-11 The vote went the way it did because we have people who wont even take the time to show up at at the union hall to hear what they're voting for. This next vote ought to be good too. All the firehouse attorneys should get paid trying to sell that pig.
Received via Email 3-9-11 We vote No on a no money issue. We vote No to protect our pension. We vote yes to spend money to buy a son of a bitchen axe. We are so fu*ked!
Received via Email 3-9-11 You all vote no to protect your pension. Well, in a few years you will wish you did when have the new 401 k.
Received via Email 3-10-11 The axes might start fallen sooner than most expected. However, now is the time the other shoe drops. You only get an ax ifin you are eligible to retire. You dont get an ax cause ya got axed. Some of ya might want to go look up the Dept. senority list from 11/30/2010 and see if ya might need to start lookin for new work. With the doom and gloom layoff numbers (60 - 80) coming from the brain trust collective that is jerking each other off at HQ, I would be a bit worried ifin I was hired or promoted after 2005. Ya cant get rid of 60 bodies without suffering loses (bump backs) in the Lts, Capts, and DC's too. Of course our fine Mayor was more interested in keeping his employees in order to keep the citizens safe, instead of getting re-elected, he would just raise the millage rate what is necessary to keep the level of services we have now.
Received via Email 3-10-11 To everyone, if you want to get the worst double fist f***in ever known to mankind do absolutely nothing. If you dont think your quite up to that right now, then listen to what your Local, state, and National Union officers are telling you.
Received via Email 3-10-11 We got axes we got axes we got axes. And over 100 of us didn't even take the time to vote. Then another 100 or so vote down a no additional cost item that we've already funded not to mention that same 100 voting down taking a measly 5 bux out of our pockets to protect our pension. I've got mine, the rest of you piss up a rope. There are locals that are pulling hundreds out of their members pockets because they were too cheap to act. The governor's an asshole and the mayor's an asshole. That only leaves Jimmy Large. I hope some of you Jimmy Large lapdogs get squared away by the time the next ballot hits your door. If Jimmy wants YOU to have it but he doesn't share in it, run the fu+k away.
The Senate Government Oversight Committee voted 12 to 1 (Siplin voted no) to pass the FRS pension bill this afternoon [3-10-11]. The amendments that the FPF and other state labor organizations created were adopted which makes the bill less onerous. The cap on overtime, and employee contribution are still included in the bill. We will include a more comprehensive review in tomorrow legislative update.
We believe the bill is now headed for appropriations. We will be working to keep the current amendments in place and make further improvements. I've been advised that the 175 bill (SB 1128) will be taken up at next weeks second meeting on Thursday, but that is not confirmed as of yet.
The bill by Rep. Dorworth (HB 1021) to ban payroll Union dues deductions was heard in the House State Affairs Committee today and is expected to pass along a party line vote. The FPF and the rest of labor made a strong showing but the Republican controlled committee was unmoved.
Fraternally,
Gary Rainey, President
Florida Professional Firefighters
TEAM: They'll probably stop with FRS. There's no reason to attack 175 now that they're on a roll. So glad we all stuck together and passed the pension protection provision at less than $5.00 per pay period.
Received via Email 3-11-11 Ignorant question here, How did the three vote go?
Axe Fund = Pass
Contract and Pension Protection Fund = Failure
Building Fund Question - Build, Buy, or Bake a Cake with building fund money = Bake
Received via Email 3-13-11 How bout now that our own members screwed us on the legal defense fund, lets re group and use the building fund money for a legal defense fund. Not the first choice, but could be a great back up plan for the future of our pensions.
Received via Email 3-13-11 I was having a conversation with someone today about the contract offer and the other guy thought that what was being offered was nothing to write home about because he couldn't even remember half of what is being offered. No surprise there cus the city aint offering anything worth talking about. It struck me odd when he said that we might as well vote for it cuz it aint going get any better. My answer went like this........If you know they're going to lynch you, don't go into town and put your own head in the noose. Let the bastards hunt you down and put it around your neck so you can blame them. If you think this contract offer sucks then vote it down. Put the pressure on the fire chief to offer something instead of looking to cheat us at every turn. Oh and everyone that hates working manditory overtime for the races get ready. We've laid people off and the invisible man keeps stealing people from the street to work on losing the EMS contract at HQ.
Received via Email 3-14-11 it is plain and simple, the membership didnt give a damn about the legal defense fund. Dont continue thinking like an idiot and think you can just take the money away from somewhere else.
Received via Email 3-14-11 I saw Billy Mott in the video but where are all the rest of our people?
SB 830: Labor and EmploymentTrack This Bill
GENERAL BILL by Thrasher; (CO-INTRODUCER) Gaetz
Labor and Employment; Prohibits a state agency from deducting from employee wages the dues, uniform assessments, fines, penalties, or special assessments of an employee organization or contributions made for purposes of political activity. Prohibits a county, municipality, or other local governmental entity from deducting from employee wages the dues, uniform assessments, fines, penalties, or special assessments of an employee organization or contributions made for purposes of political activity, etc.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2011
TEAM: The above PASSED out of the Community Affairs subcommittee - 5 Yeas to 4 Nays a few minutes ago (4 pm). This is not good.
And to the person asking where everyone else is in the video; Winnie is the only other person there with Billy in Washington D.C. The other members of the E-Board voted to stay home to save money for the fight ahead. Every time we defend a Brother or Sister in an arbitration hearing and the decision is not in our favor, it costs us a lot of money. Washington is UNION BUSTING. Tallahassee is UNION BUSTING and the management at St. Petersburg Fire and Rescue is UNION BUSTING. The membership has voted on the subject so now we have to live with the consequences.
Received vial Email 3-14-11 More IAFF videos popping into the inbox:
Received via Email 3-14-11 Imagine that. Orlando's mayor takes the Fire Act money and saves jobs. Can you imagine our mayor Huckleberry announcing that he's not our enemy?
Received via Email 3-15-11 Following the lead of Wisconsin, the Florida legislature is challenging unions on the issue of collective bargaining for public workers. A key measure that would changes the way unions collect dues passed a state senate committee today, despite the pleas of police and firefighters who went to Tallahassee to testify.
Jacksonville Republican John Thrasher sponsored SB 830, a measure that would bar public employee unions from collecting their dues via automatic paycheck deductions. Thrasher said his bill is not anti-union.
Among these concerns is that the move is an attempt to silence public workers’ unions. Bill supporters say unions may be spending dues money on political campaigns that aren’t in line with the values of their members. Many unions supported Democratic candidates in last year’s election. Adam Babington of the Florida Chamber of Commerce said he’s heard complaints about how the dues are being spent.
Jeff McAdams, President of the Gainesville Fraternal Order of Police, said he’s never heard anyone in his organization complain about where the dues are going.
Currently, dues can be deducted from a worker’s paycheck. But if it passes, this bill would require union members to take the extra step to pay their dues directly to the union. This takes the responsibility for arranging the payroll deductions off local and state government employers, and places dues collection squarely on unions. Graham Fountain of the Walton County Sheriff’s Department, said it would take the cost of processing dues payments off the taxpayers.
Opponents are afraid it would saddle public worker unions with excessive administrative costs at a time when they’re already taxed. Plus, they say, it would discourage union participation because it’s less convenient and could hurt the credibility of union leadership. Unlike other states, Florida is a so-called “right-to-work” state, which means that union membership isn’t a mandatory condition of employment for workers within a unionized industry. Speaking on behalf of the Bradenton Firefighters, Rocco Salvatori said this is what sets Florida apart from many other states.
The Senate’s Community Affairs Committee passed the measure five to four. While unions have often supported Democratic politicians, the debate over SB 830 didn’t fall along party lines. Senators Paula Dockery and Jim Norman were two Republicans opposing the measure. Dockery said the government shouldn’t be dictating how wage earners spend their money.
Cheryl Schroeder, Executive Director of the West Central Florida AFL-CIO, said the bill would be detrimental to Florida’s public workers unions.
Senator Mike Bennett said Senate Bill 830 will now head to the Senate Governmental Oversight Committee for further consideration before it goes to the Senate floor. There is a similar bill making its way through the state House.
Received via Email 3-17-11 Just in case any of you folks are still wondering why this web site exists. Its just for the reasons you have been reading concerning our futures for the past few weeks. It kind of makes you wonder why our city administrators haven't shown us where they stand on these issues.
TEAM: Never met a MUTT that had anything worth saying. FTM!
Dear Brothers and Sisters;
Rep. Dorworth's (Republican) bill to prohibit payroll Union dues deductions will be heard on Monday March 21, 2011 in the House Appropriations committee.
The link below will explain the effects of the bill.
The committee members contact information is listed below. Although we have once again been given only one days notice,
I am requesting that you call each (Republican) committee member between now and noon Monday.
I will be asking the DVP's to canvas their respective committee members so that we may assess our committee vote count.
We are following up with the Democratic committee members and expect them all to oppose the bill as was the case in last weeks vote.
This bill has many unintended consequences and will affect our Locals from providing a variety and legal service plans, insurance products, as well as benevolent and charitable programs.
Committee Members 
Grimsley, Denise (Chair) (R) 77 (850) 488-3457
Kreegel, Paige (Vice Chair) (R) 72 (850) 488-9175
Chestnut, Charles "Chuck"(D) 23 (850) 488-5794
Bembry, Leonard (D) 10 (850) 488-7870
Coley, Marti (R) 7 (850) 488-2873
Gibbons, Joe (D) 105 (850) 488-0145
Glorioso, Rich (R) 62 (850) 488-0807
Hooper, Ed (R) 50 (850) 488-1540 Ed is a retired Clearwater FF and a GREAT FRIEND
Horner, Mike (R) 79 (850) 488-8992
Hukill, Dorothy (R) 28 (850) 488-6653
Jones (M), Mia (D) 14 (850) 488-6893
Kiar, Martin (D) 97 (850) 487-1588
Legg, John (R) 46 (850) 488-5522
Lopez-Cantera, Carlos (R) 113 (850) 488-4202
McKeel, Seth (R) 63 (850) 488-9890
O'Toole, Marlene (R) 42 (850) 488-5991
Proctor, Bill (R) 20 (850) 488-2977
Rouson, Darryl (D) 55 (850) 488-0925
Sands, Franklin (D) 98 (850) 488-0590
Saunders, Ron (D) 120 (850) 488-9965
Schenck, Robert (R) 44 (850) 488-6641
Snyder, William (R) 82 (850) 488-8832
Williams (T), Trudi (R) 75 (850) 488-2047
Received via Email 3-18-11 Winnie would be proud of me. I called all of the reps with the exception of Ed Hooper. Half of them didn't answer and I talked to the answering machine but that's ok, I did my part. The rest is up to us.
TEAM: Most excellent. We did the same thing and got much the same results. The work took less than forty-five minutes and one of the aides even told me that they had gotten a lot of calls from fire fighters opposing the bill.
Received via Email 3-20-11 Anybody got the call for manditory overtime enslavement for the race yet? This is just what Winnie was talking about. Vote this contract in and you can expect these pricks to be killing access to time off slots months ahead of time and we won't have a leg to stand on. All the bullshit language changes in the contract weren't put there to help any of us, that's for sure. What does the letter R in R Day mean? It means REST. How many of us got popped during our R Day cycle to be slaves so that this slaveholder city could profit off of this race? A shit load. Go look it up in telestaffing and see how they cook the books and your time weeks in advance. We don't have any guarantee or expectation of a 24/48 cycle anymore. Everyone at HQ is off everyday at 5 and they don't work weekends and they work a 7 day paycycle. They are guaranteed overtime whether they walk back into that place after hours or not. You and I get it broken off in our ass at strait time and our 24/48 cycle is constantly dicked with when there's no emergency declared. They're using a computer program to f*ck you and me out of vacation time. And all of you scabs can suck my d*ck!
Received via Email 3-20-11 Why don't we picket the race?
Received via Email 3-20-11 Received vial Email 3-20-11 Why don't we picket the race?
Could be, because too many of us volunteering to work it? Yes there will also be lots of overtime assinged as well.
Received via Email 3-21-11 They want a contract but all they have to offer are take aways. They offered the cops essentially another step called Master Police Officer. This is all on Jimmy Large. If you can't see it you're blind. The mayor doesn't know shit about what you do so Jimmy shapes the story to benefit him and the mayor. Jimmy is the mayors bitch.
Received via Email 3-24-11 MTB will make it all better. Vote for Mikey, he's an Admin appeaser, but not a F/F'er pleaser. Vote for Mikey, today, tommorrow, and the next. (Yeah, I'm runnin for his campaign manager.) Vote for Mikey, a beer in each hand and overtime for everybody. Vote for Mikey, a joke a day to keep the thought of misery away. Vote for Mikey. He's tried it twice, three times is nice. Vote for Mikey. God this is so sad, maybe I will give up on my thought for campaign mgr. FTM's, FTM's, FTM's, FTM's, FTM's, FTM's. Whew!!!, I feel much better now.
Contract Offer Vote
74% reject
26% accept
275 sent out 181 returned 65.8%
Ooooh that was close but it makes one wonder...
With all the great provisions in the city's latest offer, what could we have all been distracted by?
Dear Brothers and Sisters;
The Florida House took up HB 1021 for final reading and a vote this morning. This bill prohibits all public employers at all levels of government from deducting Union dues from employees paychecks.
It also requires employees to reaffirm annually how their Union dues are spent. Florida, a Right to Work for Less state, prohibits mandatory union membership. Every employee enjoys all the benefits negotiated by the Union whether they pay voluntary Union dues or not.
On a party line vote the Republicans in the Florida House of Representative have attempted to silence all members of organized labor.
All Democrats voted against the bill and a handful of Republicans not under "mind control " of the Republican leadership stood up for firefighters, teachers and law enforcement.
We will remember them in November, as well as those who voted to against us. Final Vote was 73 to 40 to prohibit Union dues deductions for public employers.
We'll provide a list of how all 120 voted as soon as it is available.
Fraternally,
Gary Rainey, President
Florida Professional Firefighters
Received via Email 3-25-11 Hey Large and Admin. you want us to accept your offer, than give us the same as you gave the other bargaining unit, another R day, and we will gladly vote it in. Otherwise forget about it.
TEAM: For one to do something nice for you, they first must care what you think.
Received via Email 3-25-11 Arrogant Assholes working for this state.
Received via Email 3-26-11 Gotta love this, the recent vote on HB 1021 which we all know is a total a** pounding only passed by a 2 to 1 margin. On the other hand, we just voted down our contract proposal by a 3 to 1 margin. Hey, is any of our administration listening? 75% of the membership cant be all wrong.
BTW, as was pointed out in the article above by FPF President Gary Rainey, "Every employee enjoys all the benefits negotiated by the Union whether they pay voluntary Union dues or not". Just so you know, the 5 SCABS, Tokotch, Brahm, Wayne, Watkins, and Morris were all sent ballots and only 1 chose to return theirs. So since they cant figure it out, we need to point it out to them daily while they sit at your chow table and smile and laugh at you.
Received via Email 3-29-11 It's the truth. They get all the same bennies and don't pay shit and some of you act like they've done nothing to offend you. WTF is wrong with you? Why are you talking to them and why are they eating at your table? They joke about it now but at the union hall Randy Tokotch takes (took) care of the fire extinguisher there. He told them that in all his years on the job that he'd never been in the union hall. He got invited to a meeting (like anyone has to do that) and they haven't seen him since. The governor, mayor and fire chief are trying to rob us blind and make us do more with less and now we've got scabs eating at the dinner table and no one says a peep? Why is that? How do you guys put up with bloodsuckers voting on your contract and possibly affecting the outcome and they don't pay dues? Boy some of you f*ckers are really dumb.
Received via Email 3-30-11I don't believe that NON UNION members are allowed to vote on ANYTHING let alone a contract, they only reap the pay and benefits. If they are the union constitution needs to be changed. I also don't believe that they are entitled to union representation if they are written up.
TEAM: We agree wholeheartedly with your statements. That's what makes much of the proposed legislation utter bullshit. It's a right to work state. If you pay, you're covered. If you don't pay, you're still covered. The legislators want to give employees the ability to make their own choices independent of the union.. There's always been choice in Florida. You can choose to join or not join and you can even choose to leave once you've joined. And the best part about it if you're a scab, tick or bloodsucker you don't have to do anything at all! You can ride all day long and everyone else will pay your freight. The officers and officials of the Local will continue to stay late at the office, work their R-Days and endure meeting after meeting with representatives of a very rich city that believes your benefits package is already akin to a golden parachute.
Received via Email 3-30-11 How is it that in the 11th hour the chief tells the city that he wants to make EMT pensionable? Has anyone compared what an FF EMT makes here compared to other places? If it's going to be made a classification shouldn't it be worth at least 5 or 10% over FF pay? I forget what the number was but over 50% of all rescue runs are made with a Medic and an EMT. That number has to be much much larger now since they've split up all the crews and put half of the medics on engines with EMT's. Here's a number for you. We're damned close to having EMT's ride 100% of the time and for what? $32 a pay period comes out to 1.4% plus seat pay and not everyone on an engine is going to get the pay even though they've got a patch. They get your services for free. So what does James Large want to be pensionable? A whopping 1.4% ONLY. Answer me this. If you're going to try and save money by putting Medics on all the engines, can the Medic legally do his job without an EMT partner? Nope! No cracking on the Medics but if you're not going to be given another Medic for a partner MY PRICE JUST WENT UP! Did you notice that even the stuff that doesn't cost any more money like the 7 year DROP, the city tried to make us negotiate away our own benefits to get those 2 additional years? This city isn't done negotiating because they never put a complete offer on the table EVER! It's always half an offer and then they sit back to see if we're going to negotiate against ourselves for additional goodies that always turn out to be half goodies. Why would anyone in their right mind vote for a contract that's offering 1.4% pensionable and all the seat time gets whiped clean from the slate?
Received via Email 3-30-11 2nd 3/30 do you know what is really sad. The county gives our great city the funding for 2, yeah 2 medics on each rescue and our great city collects that money and puts an emt with the medic. So all that extra pay you are talking about does not even cost the city a dime. In fact, they literally have enough, (because of what the county is giving them) to pay the emts full medic pay that ride. We know that wont and shouldn't happen, but my golly give the EMTS more pay and make it pensionable. This city loves to screw its own and rob from others like the county. Well my friend, the county is on to them and this one issue is one of the reasons they are cutting the ems budget from the city. Our fire department has robbed for many years funds from the county and now we are crying about the budget cuts. No one likes it, but our great administration has brought all this on their selves. And the great pumpkin is only making matters worse by disrespecting and fighting the county on every angle. To bad most of our fire administrators have egos much bigger than their brains.
Received via Email 3-31-11 Another sad note is that this web site has more truth and facts than the agenda and BS spread at the officers meetings. What has happened to this department?
Received via Email 4-03-11 Just like what was promised by those that brought us the Lottery. The school system was going to get millions upon millions of new dollars. Well we all know that the so called new dollars just REPLACED old dollars so there were no substantial changes. Bank in the 80's the County formed a county wide funding system for EMS services to be equal throughout the county. St. Petersburg opened their money grubbing hands and TOOK everything they could and began pocketing the old money that was there the day before. So now the county wants to pull back and the city who is sitting on $300+ M I L L I O N S U R P L U S Dollars is crying and asking What Happened? Once again they screwed up big time and now they think they are being shortchanged. Somewhere this city has been collecting the same funds from its citizens and the county and hidng the extra. But we ask, where is it?
4-5-2011
Will,
As of today’s date, the following is the City’s impasse position:
1.Article 21.1 - 0% GWI for FY ’11. Blame the Mayor. This is a political payback.
2.Article 21.2 – FY freeze on step progressions. City would take back step pay from those who have already received their step increase earlier this fiscal year. Blame the Mayor. If you got a step increase this year, you're going to pay it back.
3.City’s best & final Article 22 proposal as tentatively agreed-to on 3/2/11 (the City will delete the redundant sentence in 22.(C) as discussed earlier today). Blame the Fire Chief. He wants total control over open time-off slots to manage a poorly staffed department.
4.City’s best & final proposal on Drug Free Work Place as tentatively agreed-to on3/2/11 (article 28 in current Agreement; Article 29 in proposed Agreement). Blame the Fire Chief - Payback for successfully defending Lynch.
5.City’s best & final proposal on Physical Exams as tentatively agreed-to on 3/2./11 (Article 24 in current Agreement; Article 25 in proposed Agreement). Blame the Fire Chief - Payback for successfully defending Martin.
6.All other Articles would remain status quo. This means that all other offers pertaining to stack pay, boot reimbursement, life insurance, pensionable EMT pay, expanding DROP, increase in holiday storage cap and same-sex domestic partner benefits are no longer available
As above, this is the City’s position as of today’s date. This position could change as the parties progress through the impasse process. Pleas provide me with the Union’s position as soon as possible. Blame the Mayor. Add all of these up and they don't amount to a realistic offer.
Christopher m. Guella
Labor Relations and Compensation Manager
City of St. Petersburg
Received via Email 4-06-11 We are now seeing full blown retribution. We are also seeing the same stupidity that is taking place in the recent happenings in Palm Harbor and Madeiria Beach. The Councils of those towns have no idea how to run a city so they take it out on the employees and then they end up costing the taxpayer even more when their mistakes come to light.
Received via Email 4-06-11 So lets say I just got my last step of ± $5,000.00. We are talking just shy of $200 a pay day raise, now the sum bitch wants to reduce my pay and make me pay it back? How am I supposed to make it on a $400.oo a payday loss? What did I do to deserve this? What kind of children are we working for? I dont see this as retaliation, I see it as a little brat having a temper tantrum. What a bunch of losers we work for.
Received via Email 4-06-11 More like uncaring assholes
Received via Email 4-06-11 I'd like to ask a question now that we're heading for an impasse hearing. Do any of you bright fellows that voted down the $5 per month pension protection plan guess that anyone in the mayor's office noticed? Do any of you think that any of the council members knows that we voted down a plan to build a war chest to fight them? I'm guessing they all missed it so here goes:
DEAR MR. MAYOR AND COUNCIL.
I'M A FIREFIGHTER FOR THE CITY OF ST. PETERSBURG. I WORK WITH A LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO WOULD RATHER CONCERN THEMSELVES WITH WORKING THEIR R-DAYS, WORKING OVERTIME AND GOING TO THE FIREFIGHTER OLYMPICS THAN FIGHTING FOR THEIR PAY AND PENSION. WE'RE ALL PUSSIES AND WE'RE FREE FOR THE SLAUGHTER. I'M THE BIGGEST FOOL OF THE BUNCH BECAUSE I THOUGHT THAT THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE HERE COULD ACTUALLY BE A MAJORITY AT ANYTHING AT ALL.
Signed,
Don't piss on my leg and tell me it's raining.
April 9, 2011
This is the type of crap the cities pull when fire fighters negotiate in good faith with them. They bargain one year and hide behind the League of Cities the next. Not that they don't all suck, but no. 1 takes the cake! The city of St. Petersburg underfunds our pension plan and then sends the League to Tallahassee on their behalf to lobby politicians to craft anti fire fighter laws that ensure that you and I pay for the city's shortchanging the pension plan by using our money that is intended to fund our COLA.
This e-mail was sent out to the Cities as a call to action by the League of cities.
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Source: Kraig Conn<mailto:kconn@flcities.com>
House City Police/Fire Pension Bill to be considered this Friday, April 8, 2:15 pm - 5:15 pm, in the House Government Operations Subcommittee<http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/Sections/Committees/committeesdetail.aspx?SessionId=66&CommitteeId=2622>.
The House leadership wants city officials, city representatives or city lobbyists to attend this meeting to support the bill.
If a city official cannot attend and your city has a lobbyist in Tallahassee, please direct that lobbyist to appear before the subcommittee on behalf of the city and support the bill.
While the bill language has not been released, the bill should include the following reforms to city police/fire pension plans under Chapters 175/185, Florida Statutes:
1. Change current Florida Statutes requiring the provision of new, “extra” pension benefits under police/fire pensions, and allow use of insurance premium tax revenues to pay for the current plan costs.
2. Change current Florida Statutes to restrict the use of overtime, unused leave times, or other additional payments for police/fire pension determination purposes.
3. Change current Florida Statutes providing “heart and lung” disability presumptions to police/fire/corrections claiming workers’ compensation or disability pension benefits either by repealing the laws or by amending evidentiary standards and prohibiting application to users of tobacco products.
4. Change current Florida Statutes requiring the provision of a greater pension benefit when police/fire plan members agree to increasing plan member contributions.
5. Change current Florida Statutes to require accounting by police/fire boards of trustees and require board budget oversight by plan sponsors.
Conclusion: Cities are not asking for a “hand-out” from or a “bail-out” by the Legislature. Cities are asking for reasonable changes to a few state laws to “level the playing field” and allow cities, through collective bargaining, to implement police and fire pension reform at the local level.
If a city representative is unable to make it to Tallahassee on Friday, April 8, 2:15-5:15 pm, please contact members of the House Government Operations Subcommittee and tell them you support reforming police/fire pension plans under Chapters 175/185, Florida Statutes. Please contact Rachel Tala<mailto:rtala@flcities.com>, as soon as possible and let us know whether you or a representative from your city will attend Friday’s meeting.
For additional information, please contact Kraig Conn<mailto:kconn@flcities.com> or Rebecca O’Hara<mailto:rohara@flcities.com>, 800-342-8112.
YOUR PRESENCE IS REQUESTED. YOUR VOICE IS CRITICAL.
House Government Operations Subcommittee Members:
Jimmy T. Patronis (R) (850) 488-9696jimmy.patronis@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:jimmy.patronis@myfloridahouse.gov>
Debbie Mayfield (R) (850) 488-0952debbie.mayfield@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:debbie.mayfield@myfloridahouse.gov>
Jeff Clemens (D) (850) 488-0260jeff.clemens@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:jeff.clemens@myfloridahouse.gov>
Larry Ahern (R) (850) 488-6197larry.ahern@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:larry.ahern@myfloridahouse.gov>
Michael Bileca (R) (850) 488-6506michael.bileca@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:michael.bileca@myfloridahouse.gov>
Eddy Gonzalez (R) (850) 488-1683eddy.gonzalez@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:eddy.gonzalez@myfloridahouse.gov>
Ana Rivas Logan (R) (850) 488-2831ana.logan@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:ana.logan@myfloridahouse.gov>
Bryan Nelson (R) (850) 488-2023bryan.nelson@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:bryan.nelson@myfloridahouse.gov>
Marlene O'Toole (R) (850) 488-5991marlene.otoole@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:marlene.otoole@myfloridahouse.gov>
Scott Plakon (R) (850) 488-2231scott.plakon@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:scott.plakon@myfloridahouse.gov>
Irving ''Irv'' Slosberg (D) (850) 488-1302irving.slosberg@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:irving.slosberg@myfloridahouse.gov>
Dwayne Taylor (D) (850) 488-0580dwayne.taylor@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:dwayne.taylor@myfloridahouse.gov>
Barbara Watson (D) (850) 488-0766barbara.watson@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:barbara.watson@myfloridahouse.gov>
Alan B. Williams (D) (850) 488-1798alan.williams@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:alan.williams@myfloridahouse.gov>
Dana D. Young (R) (850) 488-2770dana.young@myfloridahouse.gov<mailto:dana.young@myfloridahouse.gov>
Received via Email 4-11-11 In reference to the 4th poster on 4-06 I too find myself in disbelief at what is being proposed upon us. I sit in amazement at the attitudes of my UNION Brothers and Sisters that just cant seem to understand why the IAFF and the Police organizations are standing in solidarity with their Union Brothers and Sisters from all walks of life no matter their professions. In case you have been out of touch, I can not begin to understand how you can condone what is being perpetuated on us. I say us because that is where the train is going to end up. No one will be overlooked, no one will be spared. If you have ever enjoyed a paid benefit that was bargained for by your Union, they want it. If you are capable of planning for a decent retirement, they want that too. It is that simple folks. I hear members of this Local saying that the Union is posting more worthless Doom and Gloom on its web site, I agree. If we all dont do something today tomorrow and the next day and the next we will see all the doom and gloom we can handle. I hope that is not what is going to happen but if it does, I will have to sit back like the rest of you. The only difference is that being that I have less than 12 months to go in the drop I will be out of here or at the least, affected only a little bit, whereas for the rest of you unbelievers, you will be crying in your famlies arms while trying to figure out if your wife can find another job and if its possible for you to get another 30 hours a week somewhere. I am afraid you will soon dislike me very much because I will be the one that is grinning from ear to ear with the thought of how you so called educated disbelievers have fallen. Dont let this happen to this profession or that of your friends and neighbors. Pick up your phones and make the calls. Ten hours now will be so much better than 30 hours a week for the rest of your careers later. Do it, Do it now, dont let me have the last laugh.Think about this, the ones that are screwing us over already have theirs and there are no provisions for them to give any of it back.
Received via Email 4-12-11
Re: Received via Email 4-11-11
I have no idea who wrote that post but it's probably the best one that's ever been posted here.
Received via Email 4-12-11 Thats because it was written with experience, so sad most of us are too nieve to see it.
Received via Email 4-12-11 Well hell, of course I did it.
Received via Email 4-15-11 While your at it start a new page here too. How about we not have stuff on the current page that is not in the current year. This would make navigating this web site much easier and user friendly. Please don't think I'm trying to tell you how to run this site, I am only making a suggestion.
TEAM: Understood. Like most blogs, content runs continuously. Old stuff at the top and new stuff at the bottom, in this case.
Received via Email 4-21-11 I heard that Mike Blank's been out campaigning this week. You go boy. I want to be union president too but I don't want to run against Winnie. I figure if you win, I'll run for the office when you quit in 6 months.
PS tell you campaign manager JL that he needs to step it up.
Received via Email 4-23-11 Mike Blank as Pres? Please. He is a the most unfriendly, A-H thinks he is the worlds greatest. Hell he can't keep a station, union position, girlfriend, boyfriend.. You get the picture? Unless your drinking with him he is a total FINO.. Mike avoid the shame, stop while your only a lil loser. Or does the title BIGGEST LOSER appeal to ya? Hey, ya better run, HQ is calling you..FTM
Received via Email 4-23-11 There are people you can trust and those you cant. Mike Blank is not one that you can trust. Or any of the current scabs for that reason. United we stand, Divided we fall. You choose.
Received via Email 4-23-11 Personally, I'd rather see a change in mayor or fire chief than union president. We're up to our ass in alligators and someone with no contact with the union for years thinks that he's going to fix what ails us? Dude, get a grip. Winnie Newton was just named Florida Firefighter of the year. I guess he must have been the next one in line when they were handing that award out.
Received via Email 4-24-11 Blank is one step away from being a scab. He hangs with JW...Go figure
