FIRE FIGHTER - MPFFUmpffu.org/Docs/newsletter/AutumnWinter2009.pdfDaniel F. McNamara 243 W....

The official publication of the Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union

MICHIGAN PROFESSIONAL

FIRE FIGHTERVolume 34 Autumn/Winter 2009Number 2

www.mpffu.org

Michigan Fire & EMSAwareness Day

at the Capitol

2 Michigan Professional Fire Fighter

Known office of publication:MPFFU1651 Kingsway Court, Suite E,Trenton, Michigan 48183.Phone : 734.675.0206Fax : 734.675.6083.

Postmaster: Send addresschanges to:Michigan Professional Fire Fighter1651 Kingsway Court, Suite ETrenton, Michigan 48183-1959Phone: 734.675.0206Fax: 734.675.6083www.mpffu.org

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Sta f fEditor ............................................................................. Terrence H. Chesney

Circulation & Account Manager ......................................... Michelle Chesney

Layout & Design .................................................................. Mike Marinelli

Advertising Sales ................................................................... Mike Marinelli

MPFFU1651 Kingsway Court, Suite E

Trenton, MI 48183-1959(voice) 1-800-886-7338(fax) 1-800-454-1757

mpffu.org

OFFICERS

Vice Presidents

Sixth DistrictMark Docherty54465 Meadow Crest CircleChesterfield, MI 48047586-716-8264 (home)586-716-3845 (fax)586.243.9829 (cell)[email protected]

Third DistrictChris Reynolds1502 Michigan Ave.Bay City, MI 48708-8773989-225-2982 (cell)989-894-2263 (work)[email protected]

Fourth DistrictDaniel F. McNamara243 W. Congress, Suite 344Detroit, MI 48226313-962-7546 (office)313-962-7899 (fax)[email protected]

First DistrictKevin Pirlot603 W. Fleshiem St.Iron Mountain, MI 49801906-774-8214 (home)906-774-0623 (work)906-774-8654 (fax)[email protected]

Second DistrictShaun Abbey830 Colrain SWWyoming, MI 49509616-532-5310 (home)616.299.5474 (cell)616-532-1670 (fax)[email protected]

Secretary-TreasurerTerrence H. Chesney1651 Kingsway Court, Suite ETrenton, MI 48183-1959734-675-0206 (office)734-675-6083 (fax)[email protected]

Fifth DistrictW. James Leve10016 West J AvenueKalamazoo, MI 49009269-375-9301 (home)269-375-2551 (fax)269-720-8499 (cell)[email protected]

PresidentPaul Hufnagel1651 Kingsway Court, Suite ETrenton, MI 48183-1959734-675-0206 (office)734-675-6083 (fax)[email protected]

mpffu.org

Postal Info

What’sInside

President ................................ 3

Secretary-Treasurer .................. 4

1st District News ..................... 6

2nd District News .................... 6

3rd District News ..................... 7

4th District News ..................... 8

5th District News ..................... 9

6th District ........................... 10

Michigan Fire Awareness Day ... 11

Downriver Locals Conduct IAFF Fire

Ops Program .......................... 15

Opposition to Consolidation of Fire

and Police Departments .......... 18

Is Your Pension Protected? ...... 20

Bylaws; What are They and Where

are They? .............................. 21

Electronic Media .................... 22

3Autumn/Winter 2009

President

Paul Hufnagel

1651 Kingsway Court, Suite E

Trenton, MI 48183-1959

734-675-0206 (office)

734-675-6083 (fax)

[email protected]

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

With another difficult and challenging bud-get process just concluded at the StateCapitol, there’s not much good news forMichigan’s public employees. In addition tothe state budget problems, we are con-fronted with significant challenges to pub-lic employee healthcare and collectivebargaining.

Revenue SharingThe slumping state economy and the bud-get cuts at the state capitol are forcing morecutbacks for Michigan’s first responders.Firefighters across the state are being askedto do more with fewer resources and withreduced margins of safety for residents andfirefighters alike.

The recently adopted state budget madean additional 11 percent cut in statutoryrevenue sharing to local governments, eventhough previous reductions of $3 billionover the past six years have left many firedepartments severely under staffed. Thislatest cut in revenue sharing dollars willonly add to the problems local governmentis facing in delivering emergency services totheir citizens.

While the legislature stumbled throughanother budget process, unable to maketough decisions on restructuring and mod-ernizing Michigan’s tax code, public safetyservices continue to deteriorate to the pointwhere the health, safety, and well being ofMichigan’s citizens are at stake.

In a supposed deal with the SenateMajority Leader Mike Bishop, SpeakerDillion agreed to slice an additional $1.2billion out of state services in return fora good faith effort to raise revenue. Ob-viously the Speaker made a serious mis-take in negotiating a deal with the SenateMajority Leader. It is apparent now, andshould have been obvious all along, thatthere will be no agreement by the SenateRepublicans to raise revenues to fundpublic safety or any other essential pub-lic services in the state.

The apparent strategy is to allowemergency services to deteriorate to a levelthat will compel the public to demand ap-propriate funding. Let’s hope it works be-fore there are serious consequences forMichigan’s citizens.

HealthcareSpeaker Andy Dillion’s public employeehealthcare plan is the latest attack onpublic employees pay and benefits. Hishealthcare plan purports to save “$600-$900” annually for state and local govern-ments on the costs of providing healthinsurance for all government workers—in-cluding all current public employees andretirees—in the state.

Speaker Dillion’s plan mandates that allpublic employees in the state participate inthe program. There is almost no opportu-nity for local governments to opt out of hisplan even if they have negotiated with theiremployees to reduce costs while maintain-ing adequate healthcare plans that meet theneeds of employees and their families.

As I reminded Speaker Dillion in an ear-lier letter to him, states used as examples inhis report do not mandate participation byall public sector employees in a single state-wide health plan. Instead, they offer planswhere participation by local governmentsand their employees is voluntary and ulti-mately determined by the collective bar-gaining process. The estimated savingsfrom “economies of scale” in this plan arejust not achievable according to the testi-mony of experts in the healthcare industry.

Historically, firefighters have workedcollaboratively with local governments tocontain costs while maintaining effectivehealthcare coverage. There is no justifica-tion in dragging all public employees inMichigan into a bureaucracy that will ulti-mately drive up administrative costs, reducecoverage, and increase costs for workers.

Firefighters work in a profession thathas a high rate of injuries, occupational dis-eases, and exposure to numerous hazards.Quality and affordable healthcare coverageis an important element of our bargainingrights and must remain a local issue.

The collective bargaining process at thelocal level works well for cost containmentin healthcare. For many years firefightershave recognized the impact that risinghealthcare costs have in the communitiesthey work and live in. This is apparent inevery collective bargaining session acrossthe state where healthcare costs continue tobe a primary issue at the bargaining table.

MPFFU is working with other unions toprevent this intrusion on the collective bar-gaining rights of public employees in thisstate.

Collective BargainingMPFFU continues to battle the attacksfrom opponents of P.A. 312 (binding arbi-tration law for firefighters and police.) Ac-cording to the Michigan Municipal Leagueand others, the economic woes of localgovernment are the result of Public Act312. A few local newspapers have alsojumped on the “reform” P.A. 312 band-wagon. With little or no research on the 40-years of history of binding arbitration inMichigan, they continue to blame the finan-cial issues some cities are facing on arbitra-tion awards.

As I’ve reported in past articles and atdistrict meetings, we are presenting legisla-tors, and anyone that will listen, with thefacts regarding the success of P.A.312. Re-gardless of the misinformation that thedetractors of binding arbitration deliver,the record is clear: the majority of the eli-gible labor contracts for firefighters andpolice (over 95%) are settled through nego-tiations. We will continue to deliver thismessage to our legislators: P.A. 312 is work-ing, no changes are necessary.

As bad as the news seems to be, profes-sional firefighters have made great stridesin the past forty years. Improvements inworking conditions, wages, pensions, andbenefits have been won through hardfought struggles. MPFFU has also been aforce in improving safety for firefightersand emergency medical providers. As pro-fessional firefighters working together, we’llovercome these challenging economictimes and continue to thrive and grow as avital public service.


Secretary-Treasurer

Terrence H. Chesney

1651 Kingsway Court, Suite E

Trenton, MI 48183-1959

734-675-0206 (office)

734-675-6083 (fax)

[email protected]

SECRETARY-TREASURER’S REPORT

Continued on next page ☛☛☛☛☛

Once Upon a TimeTake a moment and think back to the dayyou were notified that you had been hiredto be a full-time professional firefighter. Doyou remember the feelings you had? Thatcall or letter you received meant that youjust beat out a whole lot of people who alsowanted the job as badly as you did. Why didyou want the job anyway? Was it for thepay? The job security? The pension andhealth insurance benefits? Or was it yourdesire to help people in need?

At that point, if you were like most ofus, you could hardly wait until your first dayof work. Once you reported to work, youcouldn’t wait for the alarm to go off. And,the feeling remained, each day you arrivedat work you were excited and ready to roll.It didn’t matter if it was during lunch ordinner or during the final moments ofsome major sporting event, or in themiddle of the night, you wanted to re-spond.

Although the initial excitement of re-sponding was great, the real satisfactioncame after you returned to quarters andrealized that you just assisted someone intheir time of need, and you even got paidfor doing it! And how about the feeling youhad when a thankful citizen dropped off abatch of cookies or something similar justto express their appreciation for your ef-forts? “Gosh, that wasn’t necessary, we were justdoing our job, but thank-you”; I bet you’ve saidthat more than a few times.

And what about training? Didn’t youwant to learn as much as you could aboutfirefighting? Do you remember reading allthe fire publications that you could get yourhands on? New techniques and new equip-ment to help you do your job better werethings that you constantly looked for. Youprobably wanted to learn as much as youcould about how to do your job more ef-fectively.

What the Heck Happened?Do you still feel the same way today? If youanswered yes, you’re very fortunate. Don’tever let those feelings change. If you an-swered no, and I suspect a lot of you an-swered no, do you know when and whyyour feelings changed?

I bet it didn’t just happen overnight, didit? The dynamics that take place overtime,within the station you work at, within thefire department you work at, the city ortownship where you are employed, andeven the state you live in, all contribute tohow you feel about your job. Lately, therehas been so much negativity in the pressconcerning firefighters pay, pensions,health care, staffing levels, etc, etc; it is dif-ficult to feel appreciated or needed. If youread any of the blogs that follow thesenews articles, you might think that therearen’t any citizens out there that even likefirefighters.

The Deal!It is bad enough reading about all this hap-pening somewhere else, but right now, yourown employer is probably trying to reduceyour benefits and staffing levels, or consid-ering ways to eliminate the entire depart-ment and many of the citizens in yourcommunity are just accepting the fact thatit must be necessary. We have declared waron the newspapers, the taxpayers, the FireChief, the City Manager, the Mayor, the citycouncil members, and our Legislators. It’sUs against the World! But what are we do-ing about it?

Fold-em?With all of this negativity and turmoil, it’shard not to be demoralized. Suddenly, youfind yourself hating to go to work. You nolonger want to participate in training. Youdon’t even want to go on “routine” alarms.Nothing excites you about the job anymoreexcept for maybe that “big” fire. Charityevents? Forget it. Public Fire Educationevents? No way! Union meetings? Whybother? Political Action? A waste of mytime. “I just wanna get my time in and get the hellout of here.” Have you ever heard anyonesay that? Well, there have always been a fewpeople in every fire department that feelthat way. The problem is that today, morethan ever before, there are more and moreindividuals feeling that way. And many ofthem only have a few years on the job. Howcan they do their job effectively if they feelthat way and still have twenty years to putin before they retire. And how will their at-

titude affect you and your safety? How easyis it for the citizens in your community todislike you when this attitude is obvious andexhibited during emergency runs, stationvisits, council meetings, while talking toyour neighbors, etc. etc.

ALL INThis downward spiral of negativity is spin-ning faster and faster. Somehow, someway,we have to reverse it. Each of us has a re-sponsibility and a role in changing thesedynamics. It isn’t up to someone else tomake it happen. It has to start with YOU!

Positive Attitude - There are manyways to make a positive change. The mostimportant one is how you interact withyour co-workers, your company officers,your chief, your elected officials, and thepublic. No matter how much negativity isproduced by these groups of people, youmust do your best to remain positive. Be-ing positive can be very contagious but itcan’t spread without your help.

Professionalism – Come to workeach day like it was your first day on the job.In spite of everything going on, you mustdo your job with enthusiasm and profes-sionalism. Don’t become stagnant. Stay ontop of what is going on in the fire service.Visit fire service internet sites everydaysuch as iaff.org, mpffu.org, firehouse.com andfirefighterclosecalls.com.

Participation – Be an active partici-pant in your local union. Attend unionmeetings and voice your thoughts duringthe meeting. The worst members of anyunion are the ones that don’t attend themeeting but sit around the next month andbad-mouth what the union is or isn’t doing.Apathy of our members does more toweaken our efforts than any Fire Chief orMayor could ever do. Remember, the

5Autumn/Winter 2009

MPFFU ConventionThe 49th Convention of the Michigan Professional Fire Fighters Union will take place onMay 5-7, 2010 at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Detroit. Watch your email andvisit the MPFFU website for more information in January.

To All MPFFU Local Unions:November 9, 2009

Dear Brothers and Sisters,I am writing to inform you that I will not seek re-election as president of the MichiganProfessional Fire Fighters Union at the 2010 convention.

At the time of the upcoming convention, I will have completed fourteen years as yourstate president. During this time, it has been a privilege and honor for me to serve andrepresent the professional firefighters of Michigan. I have truly enjoyed working withIAFF firefighters at the local, state, and international levels of our union. It has been achallenging but very rewarding experience for me. Now, it is time for me to move on tonew horizons and different challenges.

I want to thank all of you for your support and assistance in working to improve thesafety, health, and working conditions of firefighters throughout Michigan. I look for-ward to talking with all of you at the 2010 spring district meetings and at our conven-tion in May.

Fraternally,Paul Hufnagel, PresidentMichigan Professional Fire Fighters Union

SAFER Application Period Begins November 16The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will begin accepting applications for Staff-ing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grants beginning November16, 2009, at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time. The application period will close December 18, 2009,at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Applications for $210 million in SAFER funding will be avail-able through the Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE Act) along with program guidance. Asecond application period will open in early 2010 for the $420 appropriated for Fiscal Year2010. As you may know, the rules governing the use of SAFER funds have changed. TheIAFF wrote and lobbied to also make SAFER grants available to rehire fire fighters whohave been laid off, bring back positions that are not being filled as a result of the currentfinancial crisis and to prevent further reductions in staffing. Grants will be expedited inorder to deliver funds as soon as possible.Municipalities with fire departments facingreduced emergency response capabilities should apply for SAFER funding. The IAFFurges affiliate to work with their fire chiefs and local lawmakers to file for the grants. Citymanagement must submit the application, but the IAFF is available to assist your com-munity in applying for the grants. The changes under the new law do not affect existingSAFER grants. The changes are not retroactive.firegrantsupport.comiaff.org/et/economics/pdf/SAFER_Facts.pdf

ANNOUNCEMENTSSEC-TREAS

Continued from page 4“union” isn’t the four people that gotelected to office; you and all of the othermembers are “the Union”. Provide direc-tion and support to those you elected torun your local union.

Political Action – Respond to callsfor action from your International andState Unions. The legislation that is or isn’tpassed in Washington DC and in Lansinghas a very important impact on our profes-sion and our wages and benefits. We havea very powerful weapon when we join to-gether in political action through participa-tion and being involved in electing friendsto office. Don’t like politics? Don’t think weneed to be involved? This quote attributedto the ancient Greek philosopher Plato stillholds true today: “Those who think they are toosmart to engage in politics are punished by beinggoverned by those who are dumber.”

Public Relations – Now more thanever before, it is important to continue yourpublic relations efforts. Continue your in-volvement in charitable events. These orga-nizations and their supporters are some ofthe biggest allies we have. Don’t turn yourback on them now because you’re mad atthe public. Become involved in local civicorganizations and don’t be shy about mak-ing sure they know you are a firefighter.Another suggestion is to consider doing aFire OPS event in your area. Many impor-tant decisions about your job are made byelected officials that know very little aboutwhat firefighters do. We can talk all dayabout our job but when an elected officialor taxpayer actually participates in somesimulated firefighting and EMS tasks, theywill have a much better understanding ofwhat we do.

Everything Starts with You—Bethe Best That You Can Be!

MPFFU.ORG


2nd District

2nd District VP

Shaun Abbey

8116 Oldfield Ct. SE

Byron Center, MI 49315

616-541-7117 (home)

616.299.5474 (cell)

[email protected]

Once again, November’s elections mayhave changed the political fabric of yourcity council or town board. Hopefully, youhave helped place candidates who will ei-ther be sensitive to your issues, or will atleast be willing to be educated about them.

Political involvement is critical forfirefighters. Sifting through a candidate’splatform is not easy and is never transpar-ent. Politicians may tell you what you wantto hear for your support as you are a strongforce and your endorsement is important tothem. The bottom line is they hold your

future in their hands for their term.It would be very wise for local politi-

cians, and the general public, to be aware ofyour value beyond your actual job param-eters. Information about community in-volvement, fundraising and fire educationoften go unnoticed; yet these activitiesplace firefighters in the very foundation ofall things that people cherish about theircommunities.

Think about the election results in yourarea. Are you pleased with the outcomes?Is there anything you could have done tomake a difference? Did you start too late?Simply put, if your actual future is riding onthe votes cast by the residents…there is nosuch thing as becoming too involved.

Equally important is the relationshipbetween firefighters and their state lawmak-ers. Out of a potential 5000+ union mem-bers, less than 100 showed up for MichiganFire Awareness Day in Lansing. This wasthe perfect opportunity to have face to facediscussions with our state representatives,

1st District

1st District VP

Kevin Pirlot

603 W. Fleshiem St.

Iron Mountain, MI 49801

906.774.8214 (home)

906.774.0623 (work)

906.774.8654 (fax)

[email protected]

HOT NEWS FROM THE DISTRICTS

As I start this report, I can’t help but thinkabout members of my local that learnedthey were being laid off this week. Theseare fellow firefighters, local members andfriends. As we go forward, we may be con-fronted with more cuts if things do notimprove. Unfortunately, this is the trendacross the second district as well as the en-tire state. Many municipalities across thesecond are facing a financial crisis. Manyare dealing with this by cutting staff. Ofcourse, the fire department is one of thefirst areas cut. They use us like pawns toprovoke public outcry that the closing of apool would not. Some communities are try-ing to secure more revenue. Others arelooking at “creative” solutions like public

“There are no entitlements inthis profession. Like those beforeus, we have to fight to get moreor, in these times, fight to keep

what we have.”

including dedicated appointment slots.Your cause makes an impression when thefacts are presented with tangible, earnestdiscussion. Not so much when it is lost ina sea of letters or print that legislators areundulated with daily. Why wouldn’t some-one take advantage of this major event?

Making this contact even more critical isthe unintended consequences of term lim-its. The institutional knowledge of statelegislators is eroded when the revolvingdoor is always swinging. You must makeyour case on a continual basis, as if there isno finish line.

Next fall is an example of this to theextreme. The majority will be freshman af-ter the election. The “experienced” leader-ship will be officials with only two terms inoffice. The extra effort is needed for thissituation. With long time friends leavingoffice, it is up to all of us to build newfriendships in the state government, and tocontinue to educate them about our issues.

safety and consolidating services. Publicsafety is a joke that does not save moneyand is ineffective. Consolidation could be asolution if resources are abundant in onearea and scarce in another. I do not knowof a single department that has abundantresources. Also, there needs to be an equal-ization of funding throughout the coveredarea. Residents in one city are not going towant to pay double for the same serviceresidents in the other city receive. Any wayyou look at it, we are in a time where peopleare desperate to come up with solutions. Tothis end, we need to be even more diligentin being perceived as part of the solutionand not part of the problem.

There is not a silver bullet to solve all ofour problems. However, we can all make adifference by doing the little things. This in-cludes attending local meetings and com-mission meetings. Making phone calls andsending e-mails to elected officials at all lev-els of government. We need to be seen andheard to keep our members on the job andour residents safe.

When I was deciding what to discuss inthis article, I was going to talk about mem-ber participation. From my own local, to

others across the state, I hear members talkabout how to get more members to attendmeetings or other local functions. I havenoticed a steady decline in members attend-ing meetings in my local. I have been verydisappointed over the last couple years. Weneed membership to attend the meetings togive local union leaders direction. The lasttwo weeks my disappointment has turnedinto pride as members have turned out infull force to defend our local and its mem-bers. Both our last union meeting and com-mission meeting were attended by a largemajority of off-duty members. In bothmeetings the number of members with acommon goal was obvious. Power comes innumbers. The louder our voice, the moreleaders have to listen. This became appar-ent in our situation when one of the com-

7Autumn/Winter 2009

Third District VP

Chris Reynolds

1502 Michigan Ave.

Bay City, MI 48708-8773

989-225-2982 (cell)

989-894-2263 (work)

[email protected]

3rd District


Have you ever asked yourself “How did mylocal get to where it is today?” Ever won-der how the benefits you enjoy today cameto exist? As members of the IAFF we carrywith us over 90 years of history. It’s in thehours we work and the time we have off.It’s in the pay we receive and in the retire-ment we’ve earned. Every piece of gearyou have, every benefit you enjoy wasn’tgiven to you because a mayor thought youdeserved it. Nor was it given to you becausea city manager or township supervisorthought you were entitled to it. It was wonfor you by our brothers and sisters braveenough to stand together and fight to se-cure for us a better future.

In 1903, at the dawn of the century,firefighters worked 84 hour work weeksand 24 hour shifts with only a few hoursoff (forget vacations). Like factory workers,firefighters were still considered unskilledlabor. Salaries were as low as $.29 cents anhour. There were only a few cities that hadpension systems or assistance for widowsand dependents. And promotions werebased on who had the most political influ-

ence. Firefighters knew what they had to doto improve the working conditions of thefire service and in 1918 the IAFF officiallywas formed. So if you’ve ever wonderedwhere your pension, your bargaining rights,mandatory overtime, and line of duty deathbenefits came from, the following is a briefsynopsis of how these things came to pass.

A great union is more than just num-bers. 16 years after the creation of theIAFF the Michigan Professional Fire Fight-ers Union was established in 1934. And asthe IAFF and the MPFFU grew so did itsservice to our members. In the 1930’s thefirst Defined Benefit plan was introducedas well as passage of the first Heart andLung Act (Michigan’s version was passed in1964).

In 1958 the IAFF established the JohnP. Redmond Foundation for the purpose ofresearch and education regarding the occu-pational hazards and diseases associatedwith firefighting. This research has beenused to lobby for statutes that provide ben-efits to firefighters with heart and lung dis-ease.

In 1965 IAFF members in Michigansaw the creation of the Public EmploymentRelations Act (PERA) which gave publicemployees the right to select exclusive rep-resentatives and required employers to rec-ognize and negotiate with unions. Fouryears later P.A. 312 was created and the eraof collective bargaining rights began forfirefighters. The late 1960’s also saw EMSintroduced into the fire service. This led tothe Emergency Medical Services System

Act of 1973 which directed each state todevelop an emergency service system. EMSwas here to stay.

In 1976, after an eight year battle withCongress, the IAFF persuaded PresidentGerald Ford to sign the Public SafetyOfficer Benefit Act (PSOB). Since its cre-ation PSOB has grown from $50,000 to$250,000 and in 2003 it was expanded toinclude firefighters who died from a heartattack or stroke.

The 1980’s saw the creation of NFPA1500 (Standard on Fire OccupationalSafety and Health), NFPA 1982 (PersonalAlert Safety Systems for Firefighters),Firefighter Right to Know, and in 1985 alandmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling thatstate and local municipal workers qualifiedfor FLSA overtime.

“Live, work, and retire with dignity” isa motto that we as union members shouldadopt. On any given day the IAFF, MPFFUand your local union are fighting the battlesto win and/or protect firefighter benefits.As we approach the holiday season thisyear, take some time to reflect on what youhave. Think about how your union has got-ten to where it is today. As proud IAFFmembers we honor our history in almosteverything we do. But we should also honorthe men and women who sacrificed tomake life better, safer, and more rewardingfor our members and their families. HappyHolidays to you and your loved ones.

missioners cut the amount of firefighters tobe laid off in half. He made the motion andit was passed in part by the number ofmembers from our local in the room push-ing our agenda. The only concern I have is;how do we get more members to attendduring “normal” times?

There are no entitlements in this profes-sion. Like those before us, we have to fightto get more or, in these times, fight to keepwhat we have. When I was the president ofmy local, members would tell me that theyare too busy to attend. Believe me, I under-stand busy. Members have to shuffle fam-ily, work, church, soccer practices, dance

recitals, band concerts, school functions,and every other important event in theirlives. Time gets scarce. When I was a boardmember, I always felt a little put off by this.In addition to their hectic lives, board mem-bers take time to plan and attend everyevent. They attend meetings with adminis-tration and the commission on their daysoff. They process grievances. They negoti-ate the contract. They handle countlessphone calls and e-mails every day. Usuallythey do all of this without complaining orfair compensation. Then someone saysthey don’t have time to attend one unionmeeting every month or two. I understand

life happens and you cannot be everywhere.If you attend meetings and help your local,thank you, keep up the good work. If youask at the station about the meeting youmissed because you didn’t feel like takingthe time, try showing up next time. We needyou now more than ever. Numbers arepower.

In closing, I would like to thank TraverseCity Local 646 and Blair Twp. Local 4355 forhosting the fall district meeting. It was niceto see so many members from the secondin attendance.


Summer is always a very active period forthe 4th District. For our families, it is a timeof vacation and relaxation. For the locals,until recently, contract work slowed a bit.That is until our economic tsunami hitMichigan.

All rules are off these days as an eco-nomic insult has hit all of us in ways notseen since the last Depression. Almost ev-ery local has been approached by the localunits of government to sit down and rene-gotiate their contract or talk about givebacks.

From cutting hours and benefits,browning out companies, going to PublicSafety models, privatization of services tooutright closing of fire departments, we’veheard it all now. That old youthful friend,Chicken Little, is trying to make everyonebelieve the sky is falling.

Certainly, all of us know that we are inhard times. This does not mean, however,that devastation is the norm. This is not thefirst time that tough finances have hitMichigan. In fact, it seems to be the normthe past decades. Each time these financeshave hit we have been able to constructivelywork with or around them. Only the privategovernmental logjams in local and Stategovernments and their inabilities to makehard decisions and pass the buck that ulti-mately hit us are the problems.

As you read this column, MPFFU localsare negotiating with their municipalities tofind traditional and no- traditional ways towork around the box we’ve been put in.With the help of the IAFF’s incredible re-sources, locals are able to more readily iden-tify the real problems and offer realsolutions to their respective governments.

It’s hard work and it’s complicated. Theparties have to keep their eyes on the prize:Protect and Serve. The Devil is in the de-

4th District VP

Daniel F. McNamara

243 W. Congress, Suite 344

Detroit, MI 48226

313-962-7546 (office)

313-962-7899 (fax)

[email protected]

4th District


tails of defining how we do this. No city,township, village, etc. will survive if itdoesn’t provide essential services: Fire,EMS, Police, Schools and garbage pick-up.It is our duty to continue and find ways todo this, especially in light of governmentsthat are willing to sacrifice these services.

Local Unions have to help find ways toenhance services while making money. Ply-mouth Township is attempting to explain thisto their elected leaders in a way to provideFire Based EMS instead of a private em-ployer. Northville Township is soon to start upFire Based Transport as part of their ser-vices. All of this brings in needed dollars tothe community while providing the bestcare.

Locals from across the state are workinghard for Election Day in November. Theneeds are high. Depending on the vote, atleast one local in the 4th, Brownstown Town-ship, faces elimination of the entire depart-ment. These are not days of talking aboutnew taxes but renewing current millagesshould be able to get done one would think.Unfortunately, nothing is a given these days.

Ecorse, and possibly River Rouge, are fac-ing a visit from an emergency financialmanager appointed by the governor. Thisis the second time in recent years forEcorse. It seems that every time they comeup to breathe they get hit again. And whatcan be said over how the Monroe local hasbeen faring this last year?

With a dire threat of a loss of more rev-enue sharing from our leaders in Lansing,there may be even worse outcomes frombedroom communities that live primarilyon household taxes as funding their bud-gets.

Many of our friends, families and neigh-bors are dealing with the economy in waysthat are unfathomable. Losing homes andjobs are things that were never part of thedream that was promised us. We need to bethere for them as we struggle daily to dowhat we can to protect and serve them.

Our locals will make it through. Somemay be different looking; some may act alittle differently. None the less, as always,when the smoke clears we will be there.

Fortunately, one of the biggest cardswe’re holding is the ability of the MPFFUexecutive board along with our lobbyists,

Kelley/Cawthorne, working for all of usevery day in Lansing. When we can’t get themessage through at home, they are therewith our governor and legislative represen-tatives.

Fire Fighters DayThere have been times recently where wewent on our own. Our Fire Fighters Day inLansing went extremely well. There weremany diverse groups showing all thedifferent levels of service, a hot dog lunchand presentation in the front of theCapitol that included Lieutenant GovernorJohn Cherry, State Representative AndyNeumann and others.

We had the front of the Capitol popu-lated with open air tents, demonstrationsand firefighters from across the state toshake hands, renew acquaintances and ex-plain some of the procedures and activitieswe supply. It was a beautiful sunny day andeverything went off without a hitch. MelissaYutzey did a great job organizing the eventand making sure the correct message wentout. That was the biggest group of legisla-tors sitting down with firefighters that Ihave seen in quite a long time.

Ann Arbor SimulatorOn September 18th, the Ann Arbor localsponsored a Flash-Over Simulator on site.Over three days, many firefighters, civiliansand politicians were given a hands-on abil-ity to get an idea about what we do. It wasinteresting to meet so many positive peoplethat support their fire service. More, in talk-ing with some elected officials, it was inter-esting to see how they grasped what wewere explain after seeing our men andwomen come out of the simulator a littlecooked up.

Good job by the local leadership in giv-

“Certainly, all of us know thatwe are in hard times. This doesnot mean, however, that devasta-tion is the norm. This is not the

first time that tough financeshave hit Michigan.”

9Autumn/Winter 2009

5th District

5th District VP

W. James Leve

10016 West J Avenue

Kalamazoo, MI 49009

269-375-9301 (home)

269-375-2551 (fax)

269-720-8499 (cell)

[email protected]


ing training and tying in PR and PAC. Ev-eryone one I talked to came out with a newappreciation for what firefighters gothrough.

Dearborn Fire FightersThe next night, Dearborn Fire Fighters put ona 75th Anniversary dinner-dance at theHyatt. It was a first class evening with greatfood and entertainment. The Dearbornlocal has always been on the labor fore-front. They have fought many battles overthe decades and set the standard for Michi-gan locals to observe and follow. They are

Several years ago I wrote an article on theFLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act) and howyour municipalities may not be paying youthe correct rate for overtime. I have hadseveral discussions with different locals andwould like to review that information asthere are many new members and boardsthat may not be aware of these calculationsand the law governing them.

First of all there are two different typesof FLSA overtime. They are FLSA Over-time for regular scheduled hours andFLSA Premium for all hours worked inexcess of 53 hours per week. As you know,or should know, you are paid overtime forall hours worked in excess of 53 hours ina work week or 212 hours in a 28 day cycle.That cycle may differ from department todepartment but the normal cycle is 28 days.If your schedule results in an average workweek of 54 hours then the employer wouldbe liable for one hour overtime per week orfour hours in a 28 day cycle. But since youare already being paid straight time for 54hours (or one hour over the 53 hour maxi-mum) the employer would only be liable for½ hour additional per week for that one

hour or two hours total straight time per 28day cycle. The law further states that the212 hours is for “actual hours worked”.Therefore, if you were to take a sick dayand then work an extra shift during that 28day cycle your employer would not have topay you overtime, only straight time, un-less your contract states that paid time offis considered as actual hours worked for thepurposes of calculating overtime. Thiswould include vacation time, sick time orany other paid time off.

Most wage scales in our locals use an-nual salary ranges and divide this amountby the number of hours worked to deter-mine your hourly rate for the purposes ofcalculating overtime. This rate may differamong locals due to their schedules, be it56, 54, or other average work week. TheFair Labor Standards Act requires paymentfor overtime, in excess of the 212 hours, ata rate that includes not just base wage, butalso bonuses such as longevity, shift differ-ential, holiday pay, EMT or Medic bonuses,to name a few. Adding all of these bonustogether and calculating their value at oneand half times can conservatively amountto $3.00 per hour or more added to theovertime calculation. One 24 hour shiftcould be worth $75.00 or more in addi-tional payment to you.

The statute of limitations for violationof the FLSA is two years and further statesthat the statute of limitations is three yearsif the violations are willful, deliberate orintentional. Ron Helveston won a case forAllen Park in 1999 for FLSA violation andthey were awarded two years back pay and

“The International through itslegal department deals with

FLSA violations all the timeand needs to know if you and

your local have an FLSA issue.They can assist you with filing

the correct way.”

the definition of solidarity.

IAFF Trial BoardsCurrently, there are three IAFF trial boardsgoing through the process in the 4th Dis-trict. This is a very difficult thing to beinvolved in, but, the Constitution and By-Laws we write at our conventions must beenforced. These violations have risen to alevel that needs to be addressed.

This is not personal. By that I mean thatthere is nothing against these individualsexcept charges that the IAFF Constitutionand By-Laws are being broken. As General

President Harold Schaitburger opined to theInternational Association of Fire Chiefs,we are a club with rules.

If someone doesn’t like the rules eitherchange them or don’t belong. These rulesare made to keep us and those we protectsafe and to move labor forward. It’s thatsimple. The results will more definewhat some members say are ambiguous.Michigan’s IAFF members need to haveclear language that is obvious to all to inter-pret.

also attorney costs and fees.The International through its legal de-

partment deals with FLSA violations all thetime and needs to know if you and yourlocal have an FLSA issue. They can assistyou with filing the correct way. If you thinkyour employer is not calculating your over-time correctly you need to contact yourDistrict VP to assist with getting the Inter-national involved. Make sure the Interna-tional gets involved before calling yourlocal’s attorney because is your own attor-ney is involved the IAFF may not be ableto assist.

I want to thank Ed Hosmer, our East-ern Trustee, for allowing me to plagiarizesome of his notes that his department useson FLSA issues. Ed also has developedworksheets that are helpful to both the lo-cal and employer in understanding and per-forming FLSA calculations. He is willing toshare those with anyone interested. I alsohave those forms and would be willing toshare and help anyone with their FLSAquestions or problems.


Greetings from the Sixth District! I wouldlove to be able to provide a happy positivereport, but that just is not the case. Manylocals throughout the district are under at-tack and struggling to survive. Some are innegotiations and facing concessionary bar-gaining and some even have contracts andare providing concessions to keep memberson the job.

Municipalities are facing plummetingrevenues through decreased assessments,revenue sharing cuts, investment losses andloss of commercial/industrial base. Due tothis, municipalities are slashing their bud-gets in attempt to balance them. I know Isound like a broken record, but here it goesagain. We need to be politically active. Inthese times you need to be talking to yourcity councils and township boards. I see toomany members getting pissed off at themand not keeping an open line of communi-cation. This only exacerbates the situation.We need to be involved and continuallyeducating our community leaders in theproper way to prioritize the cuts. We alsoneed to keep the community involved andinformed of what cuts are taking place.

This doesn’t mean we won’t see anycuts; it just means that the cuts should berealistic and appropriate. Remember, oneof our primary responsibilities as a unionis to bargain our safety. And as we all know,the fewer personnel we have on a scene, thegreater the risk of injury or death. Manylocals were so poorly staffed to start with,now they are facing even further cuts. Theeven scarier issue is that there is no endin sight yet. Even when the Michiganeconomy starts to turn around, it’s going totake at least two years before property as-sessment increases actually begin to showas revenue in the budgets of the municipali-ties. Also don’t forget that proposal A has

property assessment increases capped atinflation or 5% whichever is greater. Thiswill slow the increase and delay our recov-ery. It truly may be decades before we getback to where we were before, if ever.

One issue that we are all facing is thetiering of new hires. Many municipalitiesare using the poor economy to attack ourpay, benefits and pensions. I’m sure we areall in agreement, that is something we don’twant to do. Although in reality, sometimesit’s something we have to do! We have tohope that when times get better, we caneliminate the tiers and get everyone on thesame level again. Two issues I would like totalk about are Defined Compensation Pen-sions and retire health care savings ac-counts to fund retiree health care whennew hires retire. We are seeing many com-munities pushing hard to get these tiers fornew hires and eliminate their legacy costs.There is one big question that needs to beaddressed when these tiers are put in place.What happens when someone is disabledor killed in the line of duty? What happensto them or their family when all they are leftwith is a small DC pension and a smallhealth care savings account to pay forhealth care? Imagine you have five years onthe job and you are permanently disabledon duty. Unable to work, forcing you intoretirement with only what was paid intoyour DC plan. Now you are kicked off thecity medical insurance and given your smallretiree health care savings plan and told togo get your own medical insurance. Theamount of money in the account wouldprobably not even pay for a couple yearsand unless changes are made at the national

level, you would have a preexisting condi-tion and the new company may not evencover your injury. We all go to work withthe understanding that we may have to riskour lives to save another, knowing that ourfamilies will be taken care of if we have tomake the ultimate sacrifice. How do youthink a new hire will feel? Always considertiering the defined benefit plan before go-ing to arbitration over a DC plan. Any DBis better than a DC! And find any way tokeep them in the city health care plan uponretirement. Consider premium sharing orprefunding a certain percentage of payrollthroughout their career.

In closing, please don’t forget to callyour District VP if you need assistance oradvice. That’s what we are here for. TheIAFF and MPFFU have many resourcesand can provide invaluable assistance. Alsodon’t forget to send in to Terry any modi-fied contracts if you have made any majorconcessions mid contract. This informationis very useful to other locals that are facingthe same situations. Take care and keep upthe fight! We will get through this!

6th District

6th District VP

Mark Docherty

54465 Meadow Crest Circle

Chesterfield, MI 48047

586-716-8264 (home)

586-716-3845 (fax)

586.243.9829 (cell)

[email protected]


“Remember, one of our primaryresponsibilities as a union is tobargain our safety. And as we

all know, the fewer personnel wehave on a scene, the greater the

risk of injury or death.”

It’s very easy to do. Just send us a story, a picture, or both. It can be about anything that isgoing on in your local or general information that has something to do with unionism or be-ing a firefighter (union event or of fire, rescue or EMS incidents involving local members) andwe will publish it on the web and/or magazine.

Please submit your material ASAP to: MPFFU, 1651 Kingsway Court, Suite E, Trenton, MI48183-1959

Phone: 1.800.886.7338 • Fax: 1.800.454.1757 • Email: [email protected]

Note: I also wish to remind you that it is the policy of the MPFFeditorial staff to not publish any information that is sent anonymously.

You too, can be a contributor!

11Autumn/Winter 2009

Michigan Fire and EMSAwareness DayOn September 10, 2009, the Michigan FireService Coalition hosted a Fire and EMSAwareness Day on the grounds of the StateCapitol in Lansing. The purpose of theevent was to educate legislators and thepublic about the multiple roles and respon-sibilities that are expected of firefighters onan everyday basis. Several different stationswere exhibited so that the duties and nec-essary equipment could be seen by every-one. Firefighting, EMS, Haz-Mat, HighAngle Rescue, Water Rescue, a drivingsimulator, and Urban Search and Rescuestations were just a few of the featuredtasks. A press conference took place atnoon and several legislators spoke aboutthe need for adequate funding for the fireservice. Lt. Governor John Cherry, Sena-tors Mike Prusi and Randy Richardville,and Representative Andy Neumann werethe featured speakers. MPFFU First Dis-trict VP Kevin Pirlot and Norton ShoresFire Chief David Purchase spoke on behalf

of the fire service. State Fire Marshal RonFarr was also in attendance. After the pressconference, Legislators and their staff wereprovided lunch prepared by firefighters.Members of the fire service, includingmany MPFFU members also took the op-portunity to visit with their legislators andto urge them maintain revenue sharingfunds during the state budget process. TheFire Service Coalition is a group of fireservice organizations consisting of theMichigan Association of Fire Chiefs, theMichigan Fire Service Instructors, theMichigan State Firemen’s Association, theMichigan Fire Inspectors Society, and theMichigan Professional Fire Fighters Union.The MPFFU would like to thank everyonethat took part in this event with specialthanks to the members of Lansing Local 421and their Fire Chief Tom Cochran, and avery special thank-you to Melissa Yutzeyfrom Kelley Cawthorne for coordinatingthe entire event.


Michigan Fire and E


EMS Awareness Day


On October 10, 2009 over 30 members from 8 downriver locals,including Allen Park, Lincoln Park, Melvindale, Wyandotte, Ecorse, Tay-lor, Brownstown and Trenton worked together to present the Interna-tional Association of Fire Fighters Fire Ops 101 program. Theprogram was designed by the IAFF to provided elected officialsand members of the media an opportunity to experience a day inthe life as a firefighter, a chance to “feel the heat”.

The program took place at the Michigan Institute of PublicSafety Education Training Center. The new $12 million facility islocated at the Wayne County Community College DistrictDownriver Campus in Taylor.

16 local elected officials along with two employees fromAccumed Billing and a reporter from the News Herald Newspa-per, donned full turnout gear and completed four different sce-narios. The scenarios included an EMS station were participantsresponded to the second story of a building and found a patientthere who was in cardiac arrest. Here they had to begin CPR ap-ply an AED and carry the patient down from the second floor.Another scenario included using the” jaws of life” to extricate asimulated trapped patient from an automobile. In the third sce-nario we had the people catching a hydrant pulling a pre-connectand advancing the line to extinguish a car fire. The final scenariopeople were put in groups of two and conducted a search andrescue in the burn simulator were temperatures reach nearly 700degrees. After finding the victim they had to drag the victim tosafety and extinguish the fire.

Following the completion of the scenarios everyone was givenan opportunity to ride in a 100’ aerial. And just when they thoughtthey were done and it was time for lunch they realized all the hosestill had to be re-packed and the equipment put back into service.Group photographs were taken and lunch was provided while we“critiqued” the incident.

Based on the reaction and comments received from the partici-pants, the day was a huge success. One councilperson from Ecorsestated she now had a “better understanding of the need for mini-mum staffing levels.” She went on to say “Every elected officialshould be required to attend the Fire Ops program.” We also re-ceived three excellent articles from News Herald beat writer ReneCizio. You can read those articles on the MPFFU web site.

In the days following the event union leaders from the differ-ent locals attended there local council meetings and presented par-ticipants with a certificate of attendance and gave them the firehelmets they used that day.

Everyone involved put in a lot of time and effort to make thisevent so successful, we hope to do this annually and give the op-portunity for all elected officials downriver to attend.

Downriver Locals Conduct IAFFFire OPS Program

“One councilperson from Ecorse stated she now had a “bet-ter understanding of the need for minimum staffing levels.”


Section 55(6) of the Michigan Campaign Finance Act provides that a “Labor Organization may solicit or obtain contributions for

a separate segregated fund established on an automatic basis, including but not limited to a payroll deduction plan, only if the

individual who is contributing to the fund affirmatively consents to the contribution at least once in every calendar year.”

I,_______________________________________ , authorize the Secretary- Treasurer of the MPFFU to deduct $_________

on the _______ of each month for the purpose of making a political contribution to the Michigan Professional Fire Fighters

Union PAC Fund.

I want these funds deducted from:

❑ Checking account (voided check attached)

❑ Savings account routing #______________________________ Account #_________________

❑ Credit card (Visa/Mastercard only) account #________________________ Exp.Date_________

Billing Address for Credit Card:_____________________________________ Zip Code_________

THIS CONSENT IS FOR THE CALENDAR YEAR 2010.

Signature: ______________________________________________Date: ___________________

Local Name and Number: ______________________________________Shirt Size: ___________

Superior $100.00*Your name in the MPFFU News, a MPFFU Fire PAC Lapel Pin, anMPFFU License Plate Frame and a MPFFU Fire PAC Golf Shirt.

Michigan $75.00*Your name in the MPFFU News, a MPFFU Fire PAC Lapel Pin,and an MPFFU License Plate Frame.

I want to make an individual contribution to MPFFU Political Action!

Name___________________________________________________________________________

Address__________________________________________________________________________

Local #__________________________________________________________________________

Erie______________ Huron______________ Michigan_____________ Superior_______________

Shirt Size_____________

* Personal checks only made payable to MPFFU Fire PAC

Mail to MPFFU, 1651 Kingsway Ct. Ste E, Trenton, MI 48183

FIREPAC CLUB!Protect the wages, rights, and employment you enjoy through Political Action!

Choose your level of support!

Huron $50.00*Your name in the MPFFU News, a MPFFU Fire PAC Lapel Pin,and a MPFFU Window Cling.

Erie $25.00*Your name in the MPFFU News, and a MPFFU Fire PAC Lapel Pin

Mail to MPFFU, 1651 Kingsway Ct. Ste E, Trenton, MI 48183

POLITICAL ACTION FUND CONSENT FORM2010 Affirmative Consent For Political Contributions


2009 Contributors to theMPFFU Fire PAC FundListed below are the names of MPFFU members that have con-tributed to the FIRE PAC fund during 2009. These members re-alize the importance of political action and understand theimportance of contributing financially to insure that friends offirefighters get elected to office. Names with an asterisk next tothem are monthly contributors through the electronic contributionprogram. This program makes it easy to contribute on a regularbasis via your checking or savings account or with a credit card.

Just fill on the form on the preceding page and send it to theMPFFU office or call 1.800.886.7338 and we can take your infor-mation over the phone. If necessary, you can stop the electroniccontributions anytime you desire to do so. As you read this issueof the Michigan Professional Fire Fighter magazine, takea moment to consider the importance of political action. Pleasegive serious consideration to making a contribution today! Thank-you.

Shaun Abbey*Michael Abbott*Stephen AdamczykJames AdamsThomas AgocsScott AllersFrederick AnsteadCharles Asher*Anthony AugugliaroPhilip AutsemaTodd BaconTim BadeScott BalaJoseph BantauRichard BarnaboMichael BarnhardJohn BarstadKeith BarthauerBradley BaumanDonald BegemanJoseph BeiselAndy BezenahJeff Bloom*Tilvis BolenBenedict BongiornoAndrew BoonstraKenneth BorgaczDavid BostaterWilliam Bounds*Edward Braman*Brenda Brassington*Daniel BrentanaNicholas BrizendineDavid BroganMichael BrohlKevin BrookshirePaul BrownAron BulmanJohn BundasJerry Burk*Timothy BurkeAdam BurtonTimothy CallahanDouglas Calvert*Scott CampbellJames CardenDavid CarrollBrandon CarterMike CarusoJohn CaseWilliam Case*Andy CaspersonChris CatonJohn CayoDaniel ChadwickBarn ChandlerKenneth ChapmanRan CharbyJohn CharvatTerrence Chesney*

Keith Clancy*Rogers ClaussenCurtis ClementsRobert ColbyThomas Colombo*Gregory CoplaiMalcolm CowanThomas Cox*Dave CuenyJack CushmanJason CybulskiEric DarlingDaniel DaweJohn DeBarr*Daniel DelegatoJohn DenemyDonald DettlingDaniel DeVisserWilliam DickensThomas DionneMark Docherty*David DoerrRoberto DomenzainRandy DonahueScott DouglasAlfred DragoneJeff Drake*Robert DrakeCorey DrolettJohnDropchukJoseph DubayJames Dundas*Patrick DuVall*Al DyerRobert EbenhoehTony EdgingNicholas ElandJames ElliottDavid EricksonJason Everest*Timothy FalkJohnFaulsBryan FethkeRobert FlinnJames FogartyWilliam Foster*William FrankBrian FrederiksenRonald FrenchA pril FullerLarry GakleLarry GambottoLeann GarverTim GarverTimothy GeorvassilisMark GerboDavid GreenwoodBakos GrossScott GrossBryan Guinn

JohnGuthrieRobert Haase*Randy HallScott HalleckRobert HalstonBruce HamiltonMarc HammellJeffrey Hanna*Matthew HannaTerence HarnedJames HarrellJon Hauger*Kevin HawkeySteve HeimJoseph HelmickChad HiltonDari HinesKen HobbsMatthew Hollinrake*Andrew HoudeMark HufnagelPaul Hufnagel*Chad HughesPeter Hughes*Mark HuntChris HuttenlockerChad HyvonenEricJacksonJamie JentDelacie JohnsonGregory JonesJohnJurekBrett JusticeJeannell JustinJohnKastranRandall KeenBrian KeeneJames KelecavaLewis KempfChristopher KennyMark KoonterAdam KowalskiDaniel KriegbaumChristopher Krotche*Jeremy KurekKarlKuss*Stephen KuzmanovichMark LabelleJames LadiskiChristopher LakeKeith LampearScott LangloisCarlLaubachBrian LedfordAnthony Lelo*Todd LemkeAndrew LenaghanJeffrey LentzJohnLeRoyJim Leve*

James LikerStephen LobkovichTimothy LonglettRobert LoringThomas LoveberryDuane LoweMark LuickKristopher LussendenJeffery LysiakSteve MakowskiAndres MaldonadoDavid ManningMarco Marcantoni*Richard MarkovitchTroyMarlewitzDavid MarshallCorey Mates*Lee MayesSteven MazurekJohnMcCoy*James McCulloch*Gary McDonaldMichael McKeeDavid McLeanRyan McMenemy*Daniel McNamara*Russell McNameeJonathon MelocheRandy MenardJohnny Menifee*Zoe MetroBrian MiencierBrett MillerSteven MillerTimothy Miller*James MillicanLaMarr MingleGlenn MohoneyGary MolengraffRobert MontgomeryJeffrey MooreEricMoravcikMichael MullerJohnMulreadyJoseph MurrayJason MyersRichard NasonMichael Navetta*James NicholsKurt NufferPatrick O'BrienKevin OldaniAnthony OryszczakFredOsbornGlenn O'SuchNathan PapinawStephen ParsellGus ParsonsDaniel PaszkiewiczLawrence Petersen

Robert Peterson*Scott PetersonAileen PettingerRobert PhillipsKevin Pirlot*Joseph PlacidoStanley PochronAlton PolkSteve PortisEricPostKarey PrieurLarry ProhaszkaTimothy QuainePatrick QuickJonathan RehKurt ReppenhagenChris Reynolds*Scott RickardMichael RobertsRodney Roberts*Gerald RodabaughJohn RoePat RollisonGary RuksteloMark RuseskyTheodore RusieckiTerry SaboMatthew SahrDavid SalernoDaniel SalogarBarry Savickas*Glen Scafidi*James SchaferJeremie SchneiderMatthew SchroederCarlyle Schultz*Richard SchulzMatt SchweitzerBryan SchwesingRobert ScottStephen SellMark SemaanBrendt Sheridan*Todd ShorkeyHans SievertBrian Siriani*Christopher SlezakGeoffry SmithPaul Smith*William Smith*Michael SpringerJames StachlewitzAndrew StagerTodd StevensBrandon StinnettAlan StockwellChristopher StoeckleinScott StokerCraig StraussRyan Swick

Brian SwitzerCraig Sylvester*Christian SyoenMatthew TallmanMichael TerchRichard TerrellJohn ThiedeEric ThomasWilliam ThomasTracie Thompson-DaweJeremy TimaMitchell TokarskiWilliam TomlinsonJon TovarezGordon Tuzinsky*Brian TyrellJames ValiguraLeslie VanBeverenKevin VandenboomCraig VanderWallJeffrey VanderWallDennis VantassellDavid VanWallaghenJeremy Verbeke*Ellen VogtGordon Vogt*SethVukonich*Kurt WagnerRaymond WagonerAdam WallemanEricWalshKevin WardropBill WarnerJames WarnerLance Watters*Sean WeingartenGregWeisbarth*David Weisenberg*Matthew WellsDerek WhittakerMark WidmanMickey WiewiuraRobert WightMark WilhideShawn WilliamsDavid WiseleyKevin WojtylkoMichael WojtylkoDavid WylieMatthew Wyszczelski*David Zurawski*

* contribute throughthe monthly EFT pro-gram


Current economic conditions have led topressure for municipal governments to re-duce costs. Among the national trendsbeing promoted by some public administra-tion and management consultants is theconsolidation of critical publicsafety func-tions.

The IAFF opposes the consolidation offire and emergency services departmentswith local law enforcement agencies, in-cluding the transition to public safety offic-ers who are cross-trained to perform bothfire/emergency medical services and lawenforcement functions.

The IAFF opposes consolidation of fireand police departments for the followingreasons.

• The basic mission of fire/EMS andpolice departments is vastly different. De-spite a shared goal of public safety, the mis-sion, objectives, tactics and threats remainseparate and distinct at both an operationaland public expectation level.

• Activities of police vs. firefighters/paramedics require different protectiveequipment and vastly different training.

• The consolidation concept breaks upthe ‘company unit’ which is the basic func-tional unit of a fire department. TheCompany unit conducts time critical first-intervention in all hazards. In comparison,police officers often respond as individualsor in teams of no more than two in a singlevehicle. These small numbers are unaccept-able for fire ground first response.

• Consolidation exchanges the teamconcept for individual action. Individualaction on a fire or EMS scene is not toler-ated and too often met with fatal conse-quences. Individual action in the fire servicearena leads to inefficiency and chaos.

• On scene operations become con-fused. For example, a PSO on the scene ofan alcohol induced motor vehicle crashwith multiple injuries will have to decidewhether to control traffic and begin a po-

tential criminal investigation or whetherextricate a patient and provide medical care.

• Attempts to consolidate fire and policehave traditionally been associated with at-tempts to cut costs of public service in acommunity. In reality, the volume of policeresponses, as well as fire/EMS responsesare high. Any jurisdiction with anticipatedpopulation growth or land expansionwould find that the volume of responsesalone will require additional resources re-gardless of the umbrella under which theyare deployed. Therefore, the greater issue is‘service quality’. To date, reports from com-munities using the PSO concept of publicservice deployment reveal poor morale, lowefficiency and lack of quality.

• Instead of moving toward consolida-tion without appropriate insight form mak-ing such a decision, local decision makersshould consider the fire department ac-creditation process. The accreditation pro-cess was developed by the IAFC and theInternational City Managers Association(ICMA) in the early 1990’s and continues tobe the premier process for assessing fire de-partment resources and performance. Theaccreditation process includes a communityrisk assessment which is essential prior toany emergency response system resourcechange. The overall goal of the accredita-tion process is to develop a long term qual-ity improvement plan for fire departmentsincluding cost considerations.

Conclusion:Fire, EMS and law-enforcement staffingmodels are diverse and complex and cannotbe based on attempts to establish a cheapermethod of service delivery without regardto overall system impacts. The IAFF is op-posed to consolidation, which offers a falseshort-term hope and real long-term prob-lems. Quality of service should never besacrificed and preventable loss of lifeshould not be dismissed to balance a bot-

Opposition to Consolidation ofFire and Police Departments

tom line. Economic changes in the localeconomy are just one of many challengesfaced by the fire and emergency service. Itis the position of the Association that anyconsolidation of Fire and Police organiza-tions would further harm resource deprivedcommunities.

Alternatively, management and laborshould work collaboratively to seek realsolutions to building strong and efficientdepartments, based on data-driven models,which can leverage the highs and weatherthe lows of these natural and ever-presenteconomic challenges. Community leadersare encouraged to require their local firedepartments to engage in the accreditationprocess offered through the Center forPublic Safety Excellence. More informationon accreditation may be viewed atpublicsafetyexcellence.org.

A Position Statement of the International Association of FireFighters (IAFF)

“The IAFF is opposed to con-solidation, which offers a false

short-term hope and reallong-term problems. Quality

of service should never be sacri-ficed and preventable loss of lifeshould not be dismissed to bal-ance a bottom line. Economicchanges in the local economy

are just one of many challengesfaced by the fire and emergency

service. It is the position ofthe Association that any consoli-dation of Fire and Police orga-nizations would further harm

resource deprived communities.”


Public Safety is a cancer on professional fire departments.Just like cancer, early detection is the key to beating publicsafety and early detection starts with a self examination.Locals should use the following profile to see if they are

susceptible to a public safety threat.

PUBLIC SAFETY DEMOGRAPHICPUBLIC SAFETY DEMOGRAPHICPUBLIC SAFETY DEMOGRAPHICPUBLIC SAFETY DEMOGRAPHICPUBLIC SAFETY DEMOGRAPHICPRPRPRPRPROFILEOFILEOFILEOFILEOFILE

If your local fits 2 or more of the following you may be at risk!

❑❑❑❑❑ Single fire station location, usually in a city complex with police department.❑❑❑❑❑ Less than 100 actual/reported fires (MFIRS)❑❑❑❑❑ Land locked, older city (usually less than 5 square miles)❑❑❑❑❑ EMS at basic level transport or first responder❑❑❑❑❑ Private based EMS in the city❑❑❑❑❑ Part-time paid fire personnel with full time career fire fighters❑❑❑❑❑ Little or no political action activities❑❑❑❑❑ Existing PSO director or weak city charter language for separate fire chief, or hiring

of new PSO director position❑❑❑❑❑ Declining population and/or tax base❑❑❑❑❑ City population less than 20,000 residents❑❑❑❑❑ Large percentage of fire and/or police employees near retirement❑❑❑❑❑ Close proximity to an existing PSO department❑❑❑❑❑ Mayor, council, police chief, fire chief, city manager or other city official with a public

safety background or affiliation❑❑❑❑❑ Low fire department productivity (not involved in: code enforcement, outdoor

training, public fire education, company inspections, etc.)❑❑❑❑❑ Real or perceived crime problem❑❑❑❑❑ Poor labor management relations, and numerous grievances and contract disputes❑❑❑❑❑ Little industrial base in the municipality (less than 6% of land use)

Issues are not listed in order of importance!


By Maria MarcovecchioPersonalized Planning Concepts, LLC

The MPFFU has some of best trained andskilled firefighters in the profession. You’veworked hard to support and build a solidfoundation for your future. And while yourjobs potentially put you at risk every day,are you aware of the hidden risks to yourfinancial future? Many people overlook thethreat of diminishing pensions and savingsdue to a future need for care at home orother long term care assistance. It is esti-mated that more than 50% of people willneed services of this nature, with an aver-age cost of care being nearly $3,000 permonth. Because of this, the MPFFU isplease to offer a discounted Long TermCare Insurance solution to help you andyour families avoid this very real hazard.

So What is Long Term Care?Long-Term Care services are simply de-signed to assist someone who has lost someor all of the ability to care for oneself dueto an illness, an accident or simply thefrailty of aging.

Long-term care includes a wide range ofservices which help people maintain thenormal activities of daily living; such asbathing, continence, dressing, eating,toileting and transferring (like moving froma bed to a chair or from a chair to standing,etc.). Long-term care services can be pro-vided in your home, in and through com-munity resources, or in a formal settingsuch as a nursing home or assisted livingfacility.

Who Needs Long Term Care &Where is Care Given?Long Term Care is given to an individualwhose disability lasts for more than a pe-riod of 90 days. Children, adults, teenagersor seniors, anyone is at risk of needingsome form of long-term care services.About 1 out of every 2 American is at riskof needing some form of long-term careservices in their lifetime. Over 70% of caregiven today is given in a home setting. Butcare can also be given in facilities such as

nursing homes, assisted living, adult daycares and hospice centers.

Considering the Risk…Why isLong Term Care Important?True or False - Long-Term Care Insuranceis something that only older people shouldconsider.

The answer is unequivocally False.A frequent misperception is that long-

term care insurance is only for the elderlyor infirm. In reality, 40% of people receiv-ing care today are between the ages of 18and 64.1

It’s not hard to imagine why such is thecase: automobile and recreational accidents(skiing, horseback riding etc.) or illnessessuch as Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson’s Dis-ease, or Muscular Dystrophy can all causecomplications. Many of us can think of in-cidents in which younger individuals havehad life-altering situations in which care willbe needed for the rest of their years.

With so many working-age adults re-quiring long-term care services, it is easy tosee that Long-Term Care Insurance is aproduct that everyone, regardless of age,needs to carefully consider as an addition tohis or her risk management planning.

Some people believe their Disability In-come Insurance provides coverage if long-term care services are needed. However,Disability Income Insurance is normallydesigned to provide income so you cancontinue to meet your everyday bills andfinancial needs; it is usually not sufficient topay also for long-term care services

If you are not financially prepared for along-term care need, your care options maybe limited. Perhaps family members canhelp? Certainly family will want to help, butmany family members today are either notgeographically close enough to participateor are not in an economic position to assistfinancially. So, what do you do? Anotheroption may be Medicaid.

Long-term care services are only cov-ered by Long-Term Care Insurance. Itseems simple enough, but it bears repeat-ing: long-term care services are only covered byLong-Term Care Insurance.

1. National Long-Term Care Clearing-house, June 2008

What about Medicare/Medicaid?Medicare: Most people think that Medicarewill pick up all or some expenses related tolong term care. The truth is that Medicareonly picks up the first 100 days of skilledcare. The first 20 days, Medicare pays100%. On day 21-100, a deductible of $134per day must be met before Medicare willpay the balance. After 100 days, Medicare paysnothing.

Medicaid: Medicaid is a state and feder-ally funded program designed to assist lowincome people who cannot afford to paymedical care. In order to qualify one mustmeet certain income and asset require-ments. If you exceed these certain monthlyincome or asset requirements, you will notbe eligible to receive Medicaid benefits. Ifyou are unable to meet Medicaid asset lim-its at the time you need care, you may dowhat is know as “spend-down” in order tomeet the required limits. This means youspend your assets on long-term care ser-vices until you exhaust your assets and meetqualifying limits.

Educate YourselfSome disability type policies out there todaydo not cover disabilities and or conditionsthat were a result of an on the job injury orprevious medical condition. Long Term Carepays for care you need regardless.

An individual long-term care insurancepolicy that can help you safeguard your fi-nancial independence against the high costs

Is Your Pension Protected?


commonly associated with long-term care.It can also offer you greater freedom ofchoice in the type of care you receive andwhere it is provided.

The IAFF encouragesaffiliates to remind retireesabout the HELPS benefit topay for Long-Term CareInsuranceUnder the benefit, the IRS will allow retiredfirefighters to exclude from income distri-butions made from eligible retirement plansup to $3,000 annually to pay the costs foraccident or health insurance or long-term careinsurance. The funds can cover the retiree, spouseor dependents. The distribution must be madedirectly from the retirement plan to the in-surance provider. Eligible retirement plansinclude qualified trusts, section 403(a)plans, section 403(b) annuities and section457(b) plans. For more information on howyou can receive this tax- free distribution topay for your long term care coverage pleasevisit: http://www.iaff.org / E T / H E L P S /IAFF%20FA Q.pdf

The MPFFU Discount Rate forMembersThe MPFFU now offers long-term care ata discounted rate for members and theirfamilies. Contact our MPFFU long-termcare specialist to see if long-term care isright for you. Protect your financial futureand your pension.

About Maria MarcovecchioAs President of Personalized PlanningConcepts, LLC; Maria Marcovecchio offersover 10 years of experience as a long-termcare specialist. With offices in Taylor &Southfield Michigan, Maria helps individu-als plan and protect their retirement.

Find out if you qualify for the MPFFUdiscounted Long Term Care plan bycalling 800.278.6013 or visit us atpersonalizedplanningconcepts.com or email [email protected].

Click on Quote Request and enter:MPFFU as the referral source.

All consultations are free and confiden-tial. In home or over the phone appoint-ments are available. Qualified MPFFUmembers and families receive a memberdiscount when approved.

By Jeff Bloom L-116Education & Training Committee

Bylaws, what are they and why do we needthem? Bylaws are the basic guide line forthe operation of your union. Bylaws layoutwho is eligible for membership and whenthey can join. They also layout the time anddate for membership meetings. How spe-cial meetings are called and posted. What isnecessary for a quorum, for a regular meet-ing or an executive board or stewards meet-ing. What rules of order do you follow? Isit Attwood’s, Robert’s rules of order or isit the loudest talker or the one that can talkthe longest without taking a breath?

The officers of the local and their dutiesshould be listed. Also, who is eligible to runfor these positions? What are the terms ofthe posted offices and when do the new of-ficers start in their new positions? How arenominations posted? Both how long andwhere so everyone knows when and wherethe nominations will take place. List thetimes the polls will be open so someonedoesn’t miss their chance to vote. This alsoavoids a problem of someone saying theythought the polls would be open later oraccusing someone of closing a poll early toexclude someone. Is there an election com-mittee to watch over and certify the elec-tion? This will also help to avoid problemsdown the road. Do you have a set time forballot preservation? Are there measures forwhat to do if someone resigns from a po-sition? Do you hold a special election; doyou go back to the previous election resultsand take the next person in line? This ismuch easier to handle ahead of time, ratherthan trying to figure it out during deer sea-

Bylaws; What areThey and Where areThey?

son or the middle of summer vacations.How are stewards picked, are they ap-

pointed or elected? Are there a certainnumber per shift or per station? Who filesthe grievance, can any steward file one? Dogrievances get voted on before they arefiled? What is the appeal process if thestewards deny a grievance? What steps aretaken before a grievance goes to arbitra-tion? Can the stewards take a grievance toarbitration or does it need to be approvedby the executive board?

What are the standing committees ofyour local? How are positions on the stand-ing committees and special committeesfilled? Who is on the bargaining team andhow are they elected or appointed?

Who speaks to the media on your localsbehalf? Is it your local president, what if heis out of town?

This document as any other will prob-ably be a working document, there will al-ways be something that is unforeseen at thetime that your bylaws either were or arewritten. Things change, either your localsize has changed (probably smaller) orsomeone has found a loophole in the sys-tem but something has changed. There willcome a time when you will need to amendyour bylaws, so make a provision for it now.How will they be posted, when can they bechanged and will you need a simple major-ity or 2/3’s majority? It is also a good ideato have your bylaws reviewed by your legalcounsel and they have to be approved bythe IAFF.

These are just a few of the things thatprobably should be considered when youwrite or review your bylaws. Most impor-tantly, know where they are.

MPFFU.ORG

GrumpyOleMn4323: I’m glad they aregoing to lay off firefighters to keep the rec-reation building open. I use the senior cen-ter every day and I never call the fire dept.They are overpaid and under worked any-way.

JolyVoly5436: I agree they do getpaid too much. I do the same thing but theyonly pay me to actually fight fires. Theydon’t pay me to sit around and play cardsor sleep.

ProFFL-8747: Hey Grump – I hopeyou have a heart attack while you’re playingcanasta at the senior center. There will notbe anyone to help you when they call 911.As far as pay, we work our tails off anddeserve everything we get. As for you Voly,you don’t do the same thing. We are paid tobe at that station so it doesn’t take us 20minutes to get to one of our 12 alarms wego to every day. I suggest you keep yourmouth shut if you don’t know what you’retalking about!!!

Sound familiar? Web logs or blogs havebecome the new way anyone can commenton anything they want under the sun. Be-fore I get ahead of myself, I do want topreface this article by clearly stating that Ido believe in free speech and freedom ofthe press. We just have to be smart about it.

Like in the example above, many typesof people write things that literally makeyou want to reach into the computer andshake some sense into them. The hard partis not responding based on emotion alone.I try not to send any e-mails, blogs, etc.while I’m angry. Type the message and thenlet it sit. Come back to it later, reread it andsee how it sounds on its own. You may findall you have to do is tweak it a little. Re-member, when you type a blog, you are try-ing to influence other peoples’ opinions.This is usually not going to be the personyou are responding to, but the other read-ers. Getting into a fight over the blog makesyou look just as bad. Also, consider yourlocal’s public relations policy. If you aremaking statements as a representative ofyour local, you should have permission todo so. Is ProFF a member of L-8747 and

By Shaun Abbey

speaking for them? You should not useanything to reflect back on a group if youdo not have permission to speak for them.I’m using a blog as the example here. Thiscould apply to a letter to the editor or pub-lic comment area of a paper as well. Let’shave ProFF take another try at the blog.

ProFFL-8747: I understand keeping thesenior center open is important. However,the fire department responded there 22times last year—one fire and 21 medicalemergencies. If they close that station theplace could burn to the ground and/orsomeone could die. I am glad the city paysme well enough to take care of my family.We do work an average of 56 hours a week.That is why we have built in down time torest and eat. We respond to 12 alarms a dayand stay very busy with other duties liketraining and inspections.

The other hot topic I wanted to touchon is social networking.

SA7189: (twitter) I’m writing an article for theMPFFU magazine on electronic media.

Does anyone care? For me, probablynot. However, I do know we have lots ofmembers that use all of these types of ser-vices to keep connected 24/7. While I amnot taking anything away from these sitesor those that use them, we have to besmart. I have talked to members all acrossthe state and it is starting to become a prob-lem.

The first issue is when to be on thesesites. I have had locals tell me that they havemembers logged into their facebook pagefrom the time they come on duty until they

go home and put everything on their page.I hate beating a dead horse but I will. Donot use city equipment for per-sonal use! This includes e-mail, blogs, e-bay, or anything else. The problem hasbecome that we are so connected that wedo not see the difference between the com-puter at the station and the one at home.We just hop on and away we go. The differ-ence is; the one at work can get you introuble. They can track every site, howmuch time you were there and provide re-ports to HR or administration at the clickof a mouse.

The second issue is what we are posting.Members post comments about the “awe-some” fire they just fought 10 minutes agowith pictures attached. That is great exceptfor the fact it was your kids football coach’smother’s house. So to him, it’s not veryawesome. Also, I have been told aboutposts about how much we make, overtimewe are working for “big bucks” or how theyjust slept all night—“it’s great having a jobthat pays you to sleep all night”. Whilemany of these seem harmless, they can beharmful to the wrong eyes. Many peoplewould say that only their friends cansee these posts. One of your friendscould be related to a commissioner orGrumpyOleMn4323. This information isposted and can be seen by a lot of people.

I do believe you should be able to writewhatever you want. Just be smart aboutwhat you post and think about who is read-ing it. I’m glad Terry has not put an area toblog under my article.

Electronic Media – The New Ageof Interaction

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HOWLING HEROES

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MPFFU1651 Kingsway Ct., Suite ETrenton, MI 48183800-886-7338 (voice)800-454-1757 (fax)

Michigan Fire & EMS

Awareness Day Page 11Downriver Locals ConductIAFF Fire OPS ProgramPage 15

Is Your Pension Protected?Page 20

Opposition to Consolidation ofFire and Police Departments

Page 18

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