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To the Members of our Great Local Union, August 21st, 2012
First let me say that I know that these updates/ messages from me are too few and far between. With that said, I will again pledge to do better.
With that out of the way, I want to formally thank the membership for your overwhelming support of our newly ratified contract (CBA). As I’m sure you well know, your Negotiations Team spent countless hours in discussion with the District to achieve the finished document. Some of the changes that I/we are most proud of are (in no particular order): a fair/ mutually responsible base wage plan, the development of a “Deployment Compensatory Time” bank for our members deployed outside of our boundaries (finally getting appropriate compensation for our members who serve away from their families for extended periods of time), additional time off (both vacation hours and an additional leave slot), a continued escalation of Deferred Compensation matching, rollback language that makes promotion outside of the Bargaining Unit more “risk-free” for our members, and of course Article 19 (and the formation of the Gig Harbor Firefighters Union Health and Welfare Trust (the “Trust”). While we did have to go six (6) months without a contract, we hope you all agree that it was worth the wait.
While we are prepared to bring an updated Constitution and Bylaws (C&B) proposal to our September meeting (should we get a quorum) addressing the concerns that we’ve heard from our members over the last couple months, I believe that we cannot afford to wait for that language to move forward. We have a Contract that must be honored, and as of this morning, a signed Trust agreement that needs our attention. I hope that everyone understands that what your Local leadership and its members (You) have been doing for the past ten (10) years regarding medical is the only reason that we haven’t faced the same things that our comparables and neighboring Fire Departments/ Districts have in recent years. By going to a high-deductable model with a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA), we’ve been able to control increases better than anybody. Our fellow FFs have faced the following instead: Benefit decreases, wage givebacks, Debit days (“free” OT), layoffs, and Company closures. Being creative and resilient with our approach to medical has served us well. The Trust is the next, and likely final, step in our Union’s evolution regarding medical insurance.
So as to move this process forward, in accordance with the Trust documents, I’ve appointed Joel Schwarz and Eric Waters to serve as Trustees on the initial Trust Board (in addition to myself) until we can get a C&B change in place to address the long-term make-up of the board. I believe that Joel, Eric and I are currently the most educated/ qualified regarding: development of the Trust, the implementation of a Partially Self-funded Insurance plan, and the needs of our Local regarding the Trust as it relates to impacts to our Net-hourly Rate. I look forward to hearing from members who are interested in getting involved as Trustees on our Trust Board once we get formal direction from our body on the final make-up of the Board.
Thank you for your continued trust (pun intended) in your Union’s elected leaders. For me personally, I appreciate that you don’t have to elect me as your President, and I remain honored to be able to lead and serve this Local! We all look forward to hearing from you in the future as we move into uncharted, but exciting, territory. Please feel free to speak to your respective Stewards and come to our regularly scheduled meetings to get the most up-to-date information.
Fraternally,
Scott L Booth, President, L3390
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