The IAFF Local 244 co-sponsored the “Walk like MADD” event and it was a great success.  This was a non-competitive event to raise money and awareness to fight Drinking and Driving.  It honored those families that lost loved ones and we were able to personally speak and console those families who were suffering.  The real life stories had a significant impact on us.  We had many firefighters and firefighter wives that helped in this event and they represented us as true professionals.  Chaplain Trujillo said, "It was truly a pleasure to work with MADD, they are a very caring organization that is truly concerned for our community and I appreciate their focus on educating people on the affects of alcohol abuse.”

The IAFF Local 244 Executive Board would like to thank all members for attending and a special thanks to Chaplain Mike Trujillo, AFD Engine-1, AFD Engine-4 crews and the Albuquerque Area Fire Fighters Wives Auxiliary for their hard work and making this event a success.

On behalf of the IAFF Local 244, we are appalled by Fire Chief Breen’s Memo, Reducing Overtime, Number 155, stating, “Of possible contingencies brownouts would be considered as an option.” A “Brownout” is just a soft term used throughout the country which in reality means shutting down a fire station or fire/rescue apparatus to save money. This course of action would clearly be a reduction in the Department‘s service delivery while significantly impacting response times to medical emergencies. Proposing “brownouts” is an egregious and irresponsible measure putting the citizens of Albuquerque at risk. Unfortunately, there are recent tragedies across the country attributed to “brownouts” in cities such as San Diego, Lowell and Philadelphia.

We do not condone sick leave abuse and have not been afforded the opportunity of addressing this issue in the Labor Management Committee. By administration circumventing the existing procedure in making such significant decisions, it has put us at a great disadvantage. We will use every resource available to us to prevent “brownouts” from happening. We encourage all members to adhere to the Sick Leave Management Plan.

Please keep in mind that exceeding the overtime budget has always been an issue. Typically the overtime budget is the first thing that is reduced in budget preparation, so it is incumbent upon the administration to provide adequate funding is to cover the overtime actually incurred in normal, let alone exigent circumstances. It is not the fault of the employee.

Comparisons within a three month period (August-October) are unreasonable. Comparisons should be done, as an example, for a 3-5 year period to determine if the average usage increase is constant over the years which would mean that it is not abuse, but a customary pattern of use.

In retrospect, Albuquerque Fire Fighters have proposed 6 million dollars in voluntary concessions that were ignored by the administration. Instead the administration proceeded with new hires, no-bid contracts and political hires. Now, Fire Fighter sick leave usage is the new scapegoat ignoring the real issue of experienced Fire Fighters/Paramedics retiring prematurely due to unlawful pay cuts.

The annual IAFF Local 244 Fire Fighters Ball will be held on December 10, 2010 @ the Hotel Abq at Old Town. Tickets are availble at the Union Hall from 10am to 3pm Monday through Friday.

It is reassuring that gubernatorial candidate Diane Denish made this bold statement by pledging to support our rights to collectively bargain and to protect our pension funds.

Special Meeting for Congressional endorsements and campaign work with be held on Thursday September 23, 2010 @ the union hall, 7pm. 

Follow this link to keep up on the current discussion of the PERA age retirement changes.

http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/committeedetail.aspx?CommitteeCode=RSSTF

The link below is a PDF PPT that was presented by a third party consultant the task force.

http://www.nmlegis.gov/lcs/handouts/RSSTFsept.10buck.pdf

IAFF General President's State of the Union address 2010:
 
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5_lDM4NaXs

Click link below to view IAFF video on Pension Attacks:

http://videos.iaff.org/10conv/16-PensionAttack.wmv

The Albuquerque Area Firefighters, IAFF Local 244 sponsored the 4th Annual American Cancer Society CLIMB TO CONQUER CANCER event.  This was a non-competitive event to raise money and awareness to fight cancer. Not only did our volunteers hand out water to the participants, but they were also able speak to those that had lost a loved one to cancer and also to the survivors of cancer.   Senator Timothy Keller stopped by our booth to thank our Union for endorsing him and for being an active organization in our community.  The Director of the American Cancer Society likewise wanted to let us know that he was very thankful for us being a sponsor. 

The IAFF Local 244 Executive Board would like to thank Chaplain Mike Trujillo and the Albuquerque Fire Fighters Wives Auxiliary for their hard work.