San Francisco Firefighters say

Letter From the Director
Letter From
the Director
Danny Gracia, Director
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
When our last issue was sent to print
and distributed, we had all been discussing
the possibility of potential givebacks or
deferrals of wages and even brownouts/
closures of our firehouses. As I write
these words in early June, we are just
about finished with the final language
of our contract re-opener that will be
brought before the Membership to vote
on. The vote will be held after discussing the
parameters of the deal with the members and
the Executive Board so that each
individual will be able to make an
informed choice in true democratic fashion.
I feel that the Executive Board has done a
good job of bringing forward the members’
concerns, ideas, and overall best interest
to the negotiating table with The City. As
all of you are probably aware, The City
keeps telling us how bad this financial
situation is (like always) but after attending
many, many P.E.C. meetings and listening
to an outside economist’s review of the
deficit numbers, it seems to be true.
You are all also aware that The City
has a spending problem, and in the P.E.C.
meetings that was pointed out numerous
times by many members of the Coalition.
At first, The City did not want to discuss
the Non Profits and the Personal Service
Contracts, but eventually some progress
...it took years for all these
special groups to get to
where we are now, so it
will take years to make
th e c i t y accountable for
redundant funding of programs
with no oversight.
was made. I will not go into much further
detail on these issues except to say that it
took years for all these special groups to
get to where we are at now, so it will
take years to make the city accountable
for redundant funding of programs with
no oversight, some of which are not even
based in San Francisco (no way).
Let me just sum up the
M.O.U re-opener with a
few simple facts
iPeople that work for The City will be
laid off;
iMost City employees took at 4.62%
pay cut over 2 years;
iThe $480 million deficit this fiscal
year is real;
iPeople who use Muni and other City
services have seen cost increases and
service cuts, with possibly more of the
same to come;
iOur re-opener with The City extends
our contract and all of its tremendous
existing language, as well as protects
Prop F and members who retire during
the life of this Agreement.
Now, I know that we did not cause these
things to happen, however, that doesn’t
mean that we can’t help find a solution
while still preserving the great benefits
we enjoy (which are well deserved
and hard fought for). Good luck to Keith
Baraka and Dan Dunnigan running for the
D.C.C.C. and let’s hope Measure B passes.
8 Main Line www.sffdlocal798.org
Let’s get to the social
section of this document
First, Softball will be over by time
this goes to press and there will be a
championship team for the 2010 season.
This season was made very difficult by a
seemingly unending rainy season (starting to
think global warming might not be real).
Thanks to Steve Engler for keeping the
season moving forward despite the
conditions (Steve, you still owe us $2.19
for the By-Laws).
We wanted to do a Bowling Tourny in
May, but the contract just consumed
most of our time so perhaps we can do
one in July.
Please attend our 1st Annual Shoot & BBQ
on June 19, 2010 which we hope will raise
some funds for the Toy Program (see Ad).
All are welcome.
We have the Chili Cook-Off date for
9/25/10 at the same location as last year.
Let’s make this year’s even better!
Sounds like we are pretty much back in
for a Bocce Tourny in October of this year
(Attention Recycling Centers) if anyone
wants to volunteer to help out with any
of these events please contact the Hall.
Have a good summer. Stay safe.
D.G.
P.S. As we go to press, we are still
waiting for the final decision/report
and recommendation regarding the 29
members that were interviewed about
the Post Street fire from 10/14/09… more
to follow.
P.P.S.: As far as I know, we are still the
only fire department in the country that
has not had a brown-out in this economic
crisis (Engine 35 does not count because
Prop F states firehouse construction/repairs
are valid for closure).