Mainline - San Francisco Firefighters Local 798

Letter From the
Director
Kathy GilBraith
Hello SFFD members, I have been enjoying
this new job and would like to
take a minute to fill you in on some going
ons. First off, in January I was able to
attend the IAFF Leadership Conference in
Phoenix, Arizona. There was lots of information
there, it lasted for about 3 days, I
was able to attend classes on Grievances
and the process, Duty to Fairly Represent,
Pensions and the Public Employees,
Health Services and Preparing for Negotiation
, it was a lot of information in a
little time, but I am grateful that I was
able to attend, I think of it as Union 101.
It definitely broadened my knowledge in
regards to most of the topics, and I realized
what a huge learning curve this new
job requires- Bring It!
Pension
Lots of work surrounding this issue. Jeff
Adachi has filed three different charter
amendments regarding the pension reform
he will ultimately choose just one.
We are working on strategies but waiting
for The City to present their version
of what the changes to the Charter will
be. Local 798 is currently working with
all other City and County employee Union
groups . All the unions will be effected
and required to give at an equal rate, police
and fire are in the ‘safety’ category
and we will have some differences because
of this. These issues will be brought
to you and we will have discussions on
what the best angle going forth will be.
The City is slated to reveal their plan during
the first part of April. For now, look
for the pamphlet available called ‘Real
Retirement Solutions’ published by Stand
up for Working Families. It contains some
good talking points, and will be available
at you firehouse soon.
Jeff Adachi has filed three different charter amendments regarding the pension. he
will ultimately choose just one. We are working on strategies but waiting for The
to present their version of what the changes to the Charter will be...
“
City
Health Service System
It is time for open enrollment, please
take time to look over your packages,
in particularly, there has been a change
to Delta Dental, it will have a fee attached
to it, and there are now two
other dental opti ons , check it out.
I have started attending the monthly
Health Service System Meetings at City
Hall, I was pleasantly surprised to see the
former 798 director, Dennis Kruger, to be
a regular at the meetings, what a blessing,
he is a wealth of information, helping
me swim through the abundance of information
and get to the nitty gritty of what
we need to be aware of. The HSS does a
really good job caring for the employees
of this city, it is worth a look at their web
site to see what they have to offer us as
a CCSF employee, you can find them at
sfgov.org .
Firefighter Bill Of Rights
Lately, there has been more investigations
from the EMSA than ever before. This is
not unique to San Francisco, I spoke with
some union reps.from Los Angeles and
they stated that they are facing the same
issue. I would like to take a minute to remind
everyone, when and /or if you are
facing an investigation- know your rights.
A link to the Bill of Rights can be found on
our web site.
There is a section that addresses investigations,
and your rights during that process.
Take all these rights into consideration
when you are being investigated
and call us. It is important that the union
and the employee work together during
this process for two reasons:
1) To have a representative that has been
involved in investigations and knows the
process.
2)Any consequences that come of the investigation
will be fair ,for you and all
union members.
“
EMS
There has been some movement in the
ranks at Station 49, congratulations to
all the newly hired H3Level 1 EMTs(12
new members) and to all the H3Level
1s who have moved into the H3 Level
2 rank(18people) our next hurdle is to
move the stalled H3 Level 2 classification
into the fire/medic spots, we are
hop ef u l to have n ews a b o u t the soon.
Night differential pay for EMS Training
Officers that are required to change their
schedule and work the night shift will
be something we are diligently advocating
for, please advise us if your schedule
changes without any Labor involvement.
Tony Sacco
There will be a dedication ceremony in
memory of the late Tony Sacco on April
15 at 10am, the walkway at the Geneva
Bart Station will have a plaque honoring
Mr. Sacco. The ceremony is open to all
who want to attend.
Carolyn Champagne
It is with great sadness that we say goodbye,
way to prematurely, to a dear friend
and diligent supporter of our payroll
needs. Carolyn was such an advocate for
the firefighters. I remember her saying
‘I’ll take care of it’ and she always did. I
will miss her very much, her sparkle and
her professionalism will not be forgotten.
I would like to encourage everyone to
make a donation to her children, Carolyn
supported them also, their loss must be
overwhelming. Your contributions can be
placed into an account at the Fire Credit
Union, under the name of Carolyn’s sister
Kristina Clingman, the number of the savings
account is 126267. Thank you.
That is all for now, thanks for electing me
into this position I have been enjoying the
whirlwind that it is, and will talk to you
soon. J
36 Main Line www.sffdlocal798.org