Self-Screening Update

Brothers and Sisters,

Since Chief Hagen implemented the self-screenings at fire department facilities, I have been working with Chief Beste on a couple of issues:

– When will an employee be tested?
– How the process and tracking will functionally work, and
– When can a member come back to work?

It has not been finalized, but I think we are getting close. We continue to address the leave usage in the bargaining process.

The Department has identified a quarantine and isolation site for members who cannot go home. The quarantine site is a Marriott Residence Inn and the isolation site is the Highland Community Center. Both are available for first responders and not general City employees.

Thank you for your hard work and dedication.

Andrew Oltman

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Self-Screening

Brothers and Sisters,

Today the Department is starting a self-screening process for flu-like symptoms. You will see signs as you show up to work directing you to the “approved” entrance. This entrance will be where you will find the equipment to conduct the self-screening. You should see a thermometer, log sheet, screening guidelines, and disinfectant.

The self-screenings are to be conducted upon entry of the facility, mid-shift, and the end of your shift/work period. We are requiring everyone entering the facility to get screened. We do have City employees that work and move from facility to facility, such as Carter, and they will be screening in the morning at the first facility they work. They will not be required to test at every facility. I am working with Chief Beste on how to make it identifiable to others they have screened themselves.

We are screening for the following reasons: to protect you, your coworkers, along with bypassing the screening process at care facilities and hospitals.

The Union is working/bargaining with Fire Administration and HR in the leave usage if/when you go home due to a positive finding. Also, we are working on what we can do to assist our members who have limited leave.

One of the other concerns is how or should I get tested if I have a positive finding to self-screening. We are still working on that process; it is vital to know if you have a cold, Influenza A/B, or COVID-19 as we examine the return to work algorithm.

Andrew Oltman

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Covid-19 Update 2

Brothers and Sister,

I apologize for the late post, I originally wanted to provide an update on Monday, but with each day I hoped that I would have new information that you may be wanting.  Well, unfortunately, there are still unanswered questions and I don’t have any solid news to report.

I can say for now that we are continuing to ask the Chief for answers to questions and monitor changes to working conditions. Our WSCFF Rep continues to participate in daily conference calls and keeps me informed of issues that may arise.

Our EMS Division is working hard with our safety in mind and I/we should give a big thank you to Matt Burrow and Vic Bourque for assisting over the next couple of weeks.

If you have questions, please reach out to your Platoon Reps. I plan on sending out an update early next week unless there are new developments before then.

 

Take care and stay safe,

 

Andrew Oltman

President

 

 

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Covid-19 Update

Brothers and Sister,

With the ever-changing landscape with the response around the Coronavirus, I wanted to take a moment to share some information. Starting back on Saturday morning, I received a text from Chief Adolfson letting me know about the Kirkland firefighters that were in quarantine. A short while after that, I was able to speak with their President, Bryan Vadney. I started to understand what their membership was going through, along with the amount of work ahead of them. I spent most of Saturday trying to anticipate and plan what was about to come over the next week.

I continue to stay in touch with Kirkland, Redmond, and Woodinville, along with our WSCFF district rep and our IAFF 7th District VP, and have offered assistance to their members affected. The IAFF and State Council have been there every step of the way, asking what they need and how they can help.

I know there are rumors out there of staffing their stations; currently, there is no plan to do so, but this could change quickly. We will be working with our labor partners and Fire Administration to draft a plan if or when the time comes. This plan may not just be for us staffing them, but they may need to staff one of our stations as well. I prefer to be prepared, talking about it, and ready, then to scramble at the last minute. We will continue to engage Fire Administration to ensure that we have a plan for what type of leave you will be on along with a location to host our members if they are not able to be at home. I did meet with Chief Hagen yesterday morning, and he agrees; we should be ready.

Our IAFF 7th District rep, Ricky Walsh, flew in this morning tomorrow to meet with our labor groups along with WSCFF President Dennis Lawson. We had a productive discussion lasting over three hours. We discussed some of the unanticipated barriers they had, in an effort for us to plan our way around them.

As of now, we have been lucky not to have one of our members in quarantine. If/when the time comes, I want you to know that your Union will be here to support you.

If you have questions, please reach out to your Platoon Reps. I plan on sending out an update on Monday unless there are new developments before then.

 

In Solidarity,

 

Andrew Oltman

President

 

 

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Information Release

Brothers and Sisters,

At the end of last year and the beginning of this year, the Freedom Foundation has sent out hundreds of public information requests across this state.  One of them came to the City of Bellevue and your information was released to them.  Typically, when any information is released by the City, regarding our members, the Union is notified by Human Resources (HR).  In this case, HR was not even notified of this request.  I can say that the individual in HR that we work with most of the time was not pleased about not knowing.  Not only does it erode a working relationship, but it undermines his ability to appear honest.

The WSCFF along with other labor groups throughout the state filed a class-action lawsuit to prevent the release of this information. We joined that lawsuit at the end of January in an effort to protect your personal information.  At that time, we were unaware the information was already released.

Here is what was released:

First Name

Last Name

Birth Month

Birth Day (not year)

COB email address

You may be curious as to why they were looking for your birth month. Our understanding is that they want to send out “Birthday Cards” letting you know to give yourself a gift this year and opt-out of your union. You need to understand the Freedom Foundation is an anti-union group that is trying to dissolve unions.  Some may say they are providing people with information that they do not have to be part of a union.  While both statements are true; it is important that we stay united as a group to ensure that we are continually paid a competitive wage and our benefits are not reduced.  Looking at the rest of the unrepresented City for 2020 their pay increase was 1.53% (90% of CPI) whereas a firefighter labor group we were able to negotiate a 4% increase for Firefighters, 3% for Fire Prevention Officers and 1.7% for Battalion Chief (4th year of their contract)

Without a supportive labor group behind our Union, it would be difficult to prevail in any effort. As we move forward the WSCFF is working on legislative changes and the Union will work towards an MOU (memorandum of understanding) to ensure the Union is notified of any public information release in the future.

 

In Solidarity,

 

Andrew Oltman

President

 

 

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B Platoon Rep Position

Brothers and Sisters,

With Kris Johnson’s transfer from B Platoon to A Platoon, it created a vacancy in the B Platoon Rep position. At our last Executive Board meeting, we voted to fill that position with Tom Fields and fill Tom’s position (At-Large) with Kris.

Andrew Oltman

President

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Swedish Strike

Brothers and Sisters,

As you may be aware, there is a labor strike at one of our local hospital groups. Currently, there is a dispute between Swedish Hospitals and their workers represented by SEIU. This strike is to start today (Tuesday) and will impact Swedish Issaquah along with other regional Swedish Hospitals. The plan is for the strike to start Tuesday (1/28/20) morning and last until Friday (1/30/20).

 

While we are here to serve our citizens and we do transport on occasion to this location, the regular staff working there on Tuesday. They will have replaced the striking SEIU members with temporary employees who may not be familiar with the hospital and the other employees that are working there.

 

We understand the importance of working as a team and a cohesive group when it comes to an emergency. I am not saying that they will not be able to manage patients, but there may be some hiccups with care.

 

If a patient would like to be transported to Swedish Issaquah, you should explain to them that they are currently on strike and have temporary employees working at the hospital. This information would allow the patient to make an educated decision if they would like to go there or another local area hospital such as Overlake or Evergreen. If they suggest another Swedish Hospital in the area, you can let them know that this does impact all Swedish Hospitals.

 

If you have any questions, please reach out.

 

In solidarity,

 

Andrew Oltman

President

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IAFF Local 1604 Annual Banquet

Brothers and Sisters,

We had a great event on January 24th, I appreciate all of those who attended to not only celebrate the careers of Tony Mastrandrea, Doug Milligan, Lenny Norris, Rich Evans, and Fernando Burton but to also celebrate our newest members’ swearing-in, and acknowledgment of our firefighters who have just completed probation.

If you were not able to attend the event and you may have heard of some of the entertaining videos that were produced by our own Todd McLean.

 

We need to thank the following for their efforts in putting the show together:

Camari Olson – Organizer

Todd McLean – Emcee and video producer

Leah McLean – Graphics for the announcement

Cass Monroe – Hospitality Suite

King County Fire Fighters Pipes and Drums

Kristen Pedeferri – Flower arrangements

Josh – PNW Thinline Photography

Embassy Suites

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Special Meeting

A special meeting will be held at the Annual Banquet.

Friday, January 24, 2020

Embassy Suites – Bellevue

6 PM

Agenda – Swearing in of new members.

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