May 22, 2015
Hello WPFFA Members,
I just wanted to send out a little update for our membership, to answer some questions that I have heard about quite often as of late. Please take a quick read and if you have any questions feel free to contact a WPFFA executive board member.
DC’s Classes
There is a DC’s class commencing in June and should be completed in the first few weeks of July.
Recruit Class
We are right in the midst of a recruit class and once again there will be members laid off once the recruit class has been completed.
Highway Traffic Act
Once again, be careful, follow the Highway Traffic Act, be safe and keep wearing those seatbelts! I know this is hard to do, but we must stop at all red lights before proceeding through intersections.
Union Dues
If you looked at your pay stub you will notice that your union dues have gone up $20.00. At our May General Membership Meeting the membership amended our constitution and bylaws with regards to our Financial Obligations. Once again, our Arbitration Account has dropped below $50K, so an Assessment contribution of $20.00 per member has commenced on each pay period until our Arbitration account reaches a maximum of $250K.
Grocery Shopping
We inquired why we couldn’t take our lunches at a restaurant while we on our lunch break during auto ex training. Once again the City has received emails from the public complaining why do we need to take the vehicles to the grocery stores to shop. Management always sides on our side and lets the citizens know that we go for groceries when we are returning from runs, or from training exercises, but we still need to do our part and not make it so obvious. Please refrain from parking in front of the stores with the engines idling. Park to the side and once inside don’t take longer then necessary. We know that this is a great time to interact with the public and it’s a great opportunity to have some great public relations with many citizens, but until the environment changes, please try not to stand out as much.
Rizza – HRTO(Human Rights Tribunal)
Our HRTO case has been completed and we now have a pregnancy policy in place.
Overtime Pay
There have been a lot of members who have complained that they have not received their overtime pay in a timely fashion. If you get an overtime shift and your paperwork gets submitted before the Sunday, before payroll gets submitted you will receive your pay on your next cheque. If you get overtime on the Monday or later, you will not receive your overtime pay until the second pay period. Hopefully, this clarifies the issue of overtime pay.
Overtime Hours
We have a meeting set up with the FMT to discuss the overtime issues that have arisen in the last little while. We are optimistic that the issues will be ironed out very shortly.
Grievances /Agenda / Timelines
We have a lot on our plates, but we are optimistic to come to a resolve on most of the outstanding grievances, if not all of them. If we can’t come to a resolve on some of the grievances then they will be returned to Arbitrator Burkett to make final decisions. By the end of summer we hope to have our Collective Agreement signed and completed so we can start to negotiate in early September.
Modified Duties Arbitration
This Arbitration will re-commence on June 4th.
WSIB Files
Our WSIB Advocate has been given another 3 files.
Sick Time Notes
The FMT has completed their sick time review and members will be receiving letters indicating if they are too remain on notes or are coming off of doctor notes.
OPFFA Business Convention
Brother Currie and Brother Traquair will be attending the OPFFA Business Convention in Ottawa during the first week of June.
WPFFA Memorial March – Sunday June 14th
Our WPFFA Memorial March is on Sunday June 14th. Please bring your families and try to attend. This is a great experience for all of our members!
IAFF Memorial – Colorado Springs – Saturday September 19th
The Honour Guard will be doing some fund raising to send members to this years’ IAFF Memorial. The Memorial is being completely redone, so this will be a truly amazing experience. We also have retiree Constantine Gherasim being added to the wall this year as Line of Duty Death.
WEC Special Stars vs. Windsor Fire Fighters
We have a friendly rematch soccer game on July 12th vs. the Special Stars. Last year was the first time we had this event and it was an amazing night for all the players, families and fire fighters involved. These kids on the Special Stars have autism and last year they played an awesome game beating us in penalty kicks 8 to 7! We are looking forward to a rematch this year!
Closing Statement
Our Local has gone through a lot of adversity recently and I just wanted to state that I’m very proud of this membership and the way it has acted professional at all times. We have a long, busy road ahead of us, but we will stay focused and dedicated to getting the best results in a timely fashion!
Have an excellent summer and stay safe!
Our next General Membership Meeting is on Tuesday June 9th, 2015 at 7:30pm at the Hook and Ladder.
Fraternally,
Angelo Gertsakis
WPFAA, Local 455
President
