Mainline - San Francisco Firefighters Local 798

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Letter From the President ‘ Mr. Adachi’s legislation also takes away collective bargaining rights, the very basis of the labor “movement in America. “ Hidden deep within the Adachi farce is a little sentence which is absolutely poisonous… Letter From the President Tom O’Connor, President The biggest ethical sin committ e d b y t h e l e g i s l a t i o n ? Jeff Adachi is exempt from making any c o n t r i b u t i o n s to his own pension. Jeff Adachi has never taken a wage concession like other city workers. Jeff Adachi, the fiscal defender of all social programs, has had budget increases of nearly 48% over the last 6 years. Jeff Adachi is a hypocrite and San Franciscans need to know this. Brothers and Sisters, Let me take a brief moment to congratulate all of us for a very, very successful campaign to keep our neighborhood firehouses open. Our efforts were entirely successful, not one firehouse will be closed or “browned-out”. All around the Bay Area and the state of California, we could see the devastating effects of the “Great Recession”…firehouses closed, companies “browned-out”, increased workweeks and some local fire departments taken over by Cal-Fire and their 72 hour workweek. Just this week, we witnessed 50 firefighters laid off in San Jose. Very desperate times indeed. Let me take another brief moment to congratulate all of us for a very successful MOU negotiation/”re-opener”. It never feels good to give back wages, it never feels right to make concessions, but in economic times as dire as these it does make sense. We joined 25,000 other City workers and made sure that all services to San Franciscans were preserved. Most importantly, our concessions ensured that ALL SFFD fire stations remained open… and our media campaign ensured that all San Franciscans realize that we dug into our own pocket to pay for public safety. Thank you to everyone for your efforts throughout the spring and summer. All of your time and energies were well spent. Now that we’ve basked in our “victories” for two minutes, it is time to start work again. And this time, it will be one of our most difficult battles… Jeff Adachi and his attack on City Workers The entire time we were focused on firehouses and wage concessions, Public Defender Jeff Adachi was waging a sneaky campaign against city workers. It seems as if Mr. Adachi decided that he could no longer tolerate budget cuts to his beloved department any more…so much so that he decided to go on the ballot and make city workers pay more for their pension AND more for their health care. The rationale being that if city workers pay more for their benefits, then the city budget would be forever balanced. You see, the dreadful economy is not to blame for the deficits that cities are facing nationwide…. no, it is the far too generous pensions and medical benefits that we receive. Adachi’s campaign was phony right from the start. Adachi hired people to gather signatures at $5 a pop. He then allowed them to say anything they wanted in order to get people to sign on the dotted line. Some of my favorite lines from Adachi’s crusade against city workers; “Save our Schools”, “Save Summer School”, “Help protect SF General Hospital”, and my favorite line “Protect Police officers and Firefighters.” What the Adachi measure means to firefighters and city workers Even though we just assisted the Board of Supervisors in passing Measure D, increasing pension contributions for all new employees and adding another $450 million dollars to the pension fund, Jeff Adachi thought that was not enough. Here is 4 Main Line www.sffdlocal798.org
what the Adachi amendment will mean to ALL CURRENT AND FUTURE city employees: -Increase pension contributions to 9% for all miscellaneous employees and 10% for all public safety employees -Prohibit employer “pickup” of pension contributions -Double the cost of medical benefits for dependents -Increase the cost of dental benefits -Require voter approval each time and arbitrator rules in any case -Require voter approval of any wage increases or economic benefits (Adachi co-authored this legislation with Craig Weber, the Chairperson of the Civil Grand Jury Commission on Pensions. This Grand Jury issued two reports on the pension system within 12 months, and during the second report Mr. Weber became the treasurer of Mr. Adachi’s campaign.) This measure, if passed, would mean $400 to $800 a month out of every firefighter’s pocket. The majority of this money would result from an increase in the cost of dependent medical care. The Adachi measure is unethical The phony measure that Jeff Adachi authored was almost entirely funded by a British-born billionaire named Michael Moritz. Mr. Moritz also worked in conjunction with Stephan Crane, a Schwarzenegger ally and big contributor to the Republican Party. Nearly $275,000 was contributed by these two during the signature gathering process, all to advance an anti-worker, anti-middle class ballot measure. These contributors allowed Mr. Adachi, the “progressive”, to become the spokesperson for “pension reform”, but nearly 80% of the cost savings from Mr. Adachi’s measure really comes from increased health care costs for working families. The entire premise of the measure is a lie…there is virtually no “reform” to the pension system. The basis of the legislation is the Civil Grand Jury Report, “The Pension Tsunami” authored by Craig Weber, the treasurer of Adachi’s campaign. Mr. Weber’s big “issue” is that public safety workers have not contributed enough to the pension system to cover the costs of Prop. H, which increased our pensions beginning in 2002. Mr. Weber believes that we have never “met and conferred” over the increased costs of the pension upgrade. Apparently he missed the fact that we have increased our contribution to the pension fund three times for active employees, and just raised the contribution amount for new employees with Measure D. Mr. Weber has also carefully ignored the fact that our contributions to the pension system since 2002 have equaled nearly $202 million dollars. The increased cost to the pension system since that time? $205 million dollars. And the reason for the $3 million dollar difference? Wage concessions that we have agreed to for 7 out of the last 9 years! None of these facts were acknowledged by Mr. Weber and the Civil Grand Jury, and none of these facts are acknowledged now by Mr. Adachi. San Franciscans are not getting the whole story. Voters were manipulated into signing the petition believing that $170 million dollars will be saved yearly…but the measure will not save nearly that much. Nearly 50% of all city workers leave before collecting a pension. When these workers stop working, they receive their pension contributions, with matching funds from the City AND interest. If the Adachi initiative passes, the City will have to pay out MORE money to employees who move on to the private sector. The Adachi measure also jeopardizes nearly $23 million dollars a year in federal subsidies for health care and will result in increased costs to the Healthy SF medical program, with more lower paid workers opting out of paid health care and into the City’s free program. The measure also jeopardizes retiree health care costs, by eventually decreasing the number of plans available due to increased cost. Virtually every claim made by Mr. Adachi and his Republican “fat cat” cronies is a falsehood. The measure isn’t about health care reform, the measure attacks working families, the measure gains nearly all of its savings from increased health care costs, and it will not save the City $170 million dollars…far from it. The biggest ethical “sin” committed by the legislation? Jeff Adachi is exempt from making any contributions to his own pension. Jeff Adachi has never taken a wage concession like other city workers. Jeff Adachi, the fiscal defender of all social programs, has had budget increases of nearly 48% over the last 6 years. Jeff Adachi is a hypocrite and San Franciscans need to know this. The Adachi measure is possibly illegal Hidden deep within the Adachi farce is a little sentence which is absolutely poisonous…”If any portion of this legislation is found to be illegal, all wages increases shall be withheld for 5 years.” Mr. Adachi was so confident in his measure that he inserted a clause that would punish city workers if they dared to question it in court. This is a possible violation of the 1 st Amendment; there can be no monetary penalties for advancing your interest in speech. Mr. Adachi’s legislation also takes away collective bargaining rights, the very basis of the labor movement in America. We have bargained for our health care coverage by deferring raises. We have bargained away pay raises by increasing our contribution to the pension system. We have watched as increased medical and dental costs have taken away the value of our paycheck. But all of this was done at the bargaining table in a give-and-take process, essential to the collective bargaining process. What Mr. Adachi wants to do is take away that right to bargain (Cont’d p6) www.sffdlocal798.org Main Line 5
Page 1 and 2: l l MainLine SAN FRANCISCO FIREFIGH
Page 3: Main LIne July/aug 2010 Executive B
Page 7 and 8: The Vanucchi Papers Secretary Jim V
Page 9 and 10: Hotel Workers Rally for a Fair Cont
Page 11 and 12: T h e S FFD S h o ot i n g C lu b B
Page 13 and 14: California EMSA Regulatory Changes
Page 15 and 16: Retired Firemen and Widows Associat
Page 17 and 18: Letter From the Director Stephen Gi
Page 19 and 20: 2010 Station S t e w a r d s Statio
Page 21 and 22: Local 798 Giving back to the commun
Page 23 and 24: Retired Members Corner This section
Page 25 and 26: www.sffdlocal798.org Main Line 25
Page 27 and 28: the Local 798 automobile associatio
Page 29 and 30: you know someone who has had one of
Page 31 and 32: Meghan Doherty, CFP ® Financial Pr
Page 33 and 34: www.sffdlocal798.org Main Line 33
Page 35 and 36: 2010 Championship Softball Tourname

Mainline - San Francisco Firefighters Local 798

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