Thank you to the members of class 18, and Shannon Hastings who spent some time volunteering at the burn center. We’re proud of you!

Members of Local 1747,  

Thank you for your understanding with the Eboard having to cancel our August meeting. Per the Union By-Laws, we must have a quorum of the Eboard to conduct a meeting and we were short of the majority that was needed. Our next meeting will be 9/5 at station 46, starting at 0900. See you there! 

Lead Social Worker MOU   

Negotiations have taken place over the last couple of months at the request of the administration to create a new lead social worker position. In the current RN/SW contract, only the RN lead is identified and adding a SW lead requires a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to change the contractual language. The bargaining unit ratified the MOU, and it has been signed. The FD will be making the SW lead appointment soon. If you have questions on the MOU reach out to Nancy Reynolds, the SW/RN bargaining unit representative.  

FIRE Alliance & Ambulance Transport  

Chief Carson and his team have heard the concerns members have expressed with temporarily transporting patients with our aid cars and removed that option from further discussion. Your Eboard also heard it many times and we all agreed it was best to remove that option before starting the FIRE Alliance relationship with TriMed.  

We are currently working to finalize the Inter-local Agreement (ILA) with TriMed Local I-98 to bring before the membership. As mentioned before, it has several parts including defining work to protect historic L1747 members response to 911 BLS response and their IAFF chartered work supporting FD’s with transporting patients. The document will include conflict resolution, chain of command and other administrative matters such as house/food fund responsibilities. 

Also, we discussed with admin the importance of emphasizing why the FIRE Alliance is crucial to the fire department and communicating that with members. The increased revenue from the Ground Emergency Medical Transport (GEMT) funds collected through the FIRE Alliance partnership will support increased staffing, which is expected to be significant. We are exploring new ways to communicate the importance of the FIRE Alliance to PSF members. More to come soon. 

MDA Boot Drive  

We are hosting three fundraisers to help support the 75th Anniversary of the IAFF and MDA partnership to help fund critical research to battle this disease. Please dedicate 4 hours to help collect needed donations to support MDA! The last two dates are in Kent on 8/17 and Maple Valley on 8/24. The request of members is to commit five hours from 9:30 AM until 2:30 PM. 

Please sign up for the remaining dates that you can volunteer a few hours HERE. If you have any questions reach out to Joe Paglia – 253 508 2381. 

Health Care Committee  

It was mentioned on the message board that we do not have a health care committee. Contrary to those comments, a committee meeting has been scheduled for almost two months and will meet this coming week. Separately, the issues with BPAS and substantiation of expenses are a problem for all of us on the high deductible health plan and is also known to the IAFF Health Trust. This committee has not been active for a couple of years and getting it up and running will be the first item on the agenda and a review of benefits will come in subsequent scheduled meetings. 

A74 Overtime  

We discussed in labor management meeting on 7/18 the need to have JATC members running calls on the aid cars for their module sign offs. We are working with Chief Cox on a policy revision to allow hiring back one person if two are not auto assigned for A74 to allow the District Chief to move members who need the module sign offs. The change doesn't impact our ability to have two 12-hour overtime positions on A74, just allows more flexibility if only one member is auto assigned to hire them back and move a JATC member who needs aid car time.  

Possible Changes to 457 Retirement Plan Providers  

During our labor management meeting on 7/18, we met with the partners of Decision Point Financial, a Gig Harbor financial company that has been doing work with some of our members and many in Pierce County FD’s. They presented their 457-plan option along with other financial services they can provide to our members. They can also provide individual investment accounts like Nationwide does with Charles Swab accounts.  

During the next labor management meeting on 8/16, we intend to discuss the potential to have Decision Point become the sole provider of our 457-plan and what that would entail. They can provide individualized financial planning, have the resources for other financial wellness needs or can point members to local people who provide them. Any change would not become effective until January 1, 2025, if we make a change.   

Negotiations  

Contract negotiations for the FF/ENG/CAPT contract are still in progress with two meetings completed, and several more scheduled. The priorities set for the group by the members continue to be the top priority. We anticipate negotiations to continue into the fall and will host another virtual check in soon. Negotiations for the BC/DC contract have not formally started. If you have any questions or input, please contact one of the negotiators. - Rob, Cody, Paul, Sean, and James  

Retirement Dinner 

The annual retirement dinner will be at Lake Wilderness Lodge on October 19 5PM until 10PM. More information will be shared when available.