Dear Members,

We met from 3pm to 8pm on June 17, 2010 at City Hall in an attempt to come to an agreement with the Mayor's Administration on our MOU. Unfortunately, we did not reach an agreement yesterday and were asked to wait for their response. We did receive a call from the Mayor’s representative today saying that they were still deliberating on the proposal and expressed that “we are close.” We are set to meet on Monday afternoon for another discussion. It is obvious that our pay increase will not be effective tomorrow, June 19, 2010, per our contract. However, monetary issues can be reverted if an agreement is reached or by a court order. We are prepared to take whatever actions are necessary to protect our contract. Fire Administration has concerns about the unpaid Holiday concept incurring overtime costs. We are confident that the IAFF Local 244 realizes that this concept requires a commitment from its membership not to call in sick on the recognized Holidays. It is paramount that we protect our base rate of pay and above all, protect our contract and its benefits for our families. Please click link below to view our latest proposal.

Fraternally,

Diego Arencón, President

IAFF Local 244

Thank You!!!!! Wow, what an awesome day. Our gathering / reunion was a success. I never dreamed that we would get the turn out we did. We had so many deceased fire fighters family attend and that in itself made this day special. I want to thank all of you for making this day possible. For those of you that were not able to attend today, I encourage you to make time to see the Memorial which is mounted on the entry wall on the west side of the Fire Academy. Each name on the memorial has its own story making the memorial that much more rewarding. I hope that one day we will look back on today as a special day that we took time to pay honor and respect to our deceased brothers. The turn out today was all worth the man hours spent in making it possible. The IAFF LOCAL 244 Union’s recognition of the founding charter members was appreciated. What the AFD is today is because of the hardships and sacrifices that were endured by the Fire Fighters of yesterday.  Again, I thank you for your support as it humbles me to be a part of your life. We are a family and know that we are there for each other. My respect as always-Sam Trujillo, AFDRA President.

We believe the budget that City Council passed is fair and equitable given our current financial situation.We would like to thank the City Council for working with us in achieving our collective goal in maintaining service delivery while still providing fiscal relief during this budget shortfall.

It is our intent to voluntarily amend our contract to help with our City’s budget shortfall prior to it expiring in June 2011. We look forward to working with the Mayor and hope to achieve a mutual agreement in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding. We anticipate that the MOU will reflect the desires of the City Council as well as the hard working Fire Fighters of the Albuquerque Fire Department. We must all work together to preserve the integrity of the Fire Department’s work force and keep Albuquerque’s citizens as safe as possible.

Our next General Meeting is on June 10, 2010 @ 7:00pm.

Project Heart Start, a program to teach the public compression-only CPR, will be held at Isotopes Park on Saturday June 26, 2010 from 9:00am to 12:00pm

 We need CPR facilitators to assist us and are asking for your participation. We hope to teach more than 2000 New Mexicans how to save a life using continuous compression-only CPR. Studies now show that continuous compressions without rescue breathing are as effective as the traditional CPR. The course is not for certification so the facilitators are not required to be certified instructors, but rather people that perform CPR as part of their professional role.

Please contact Justin Staley if you would like to volunteer for this event @ 505-401-4416 or jlstaley@cabq.gov

Budget Committee Chair Don Harris and Council President Ken Sanchez sponsor a floor amendment to the Mayor's proposed budget that balances the City's general fund while minimizing the impact of wage decreases and maintains the current level of essential services. This resolution also includes the intent of the proposed public safety wage decreases to be realized by using unpaid holidays through an MOU in a City Council Statement of Intent . The IAFF Local 244 Executive Board has been working diligently in trying to achieve an MOU with the Administration since April 15, 2010, but were unsuccessful. We have continued to work hand in hand with City Councilors in addressing our current budget shortfall. This resolution focuses on economic issues and does impact other provisions in our Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Please refer to the attached resolution, specifically: Section 13. Statement of City Council Desire   (pgs. 18 & 19)

http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/politics/unions-duke-it-out-with-duke-city-mayor

MDA reconizes our efforts in a letter to City Council. Please click the links below to the view letters:

The IAFF Local 244 would like to honor former AFD Fire Chiefs Gerald Grimm, Carlos Dominguez and Robert Ortega for responding to our call for help through this difficult budget process. Please click link below to read their letter to Mayor Berry.

Dear Members,

First of all, I would like to acknowledge our Executive Board as well as the General Members who have been working diligently on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)  proposals since April 15, 2010. As Fire Fighters we understand what sacrifice means and you all have gone well beyond the call of duty during this budgetary crisis. Your sacrifices have been communicated to the Berry Administration in an MOU that would amend the current contract between the IAFF Local 244 and the City.

The MOU dated May 6, 2010 on behalf of our membership has been denied by the Berry Administration. Attached you will find letters recognizing the MOU process from both parties, all proposals from our Union and the City Administration and letter to Mayor Berry dated May 11, 2010.

Our next General Meeting is this Thursday, May 13, 2010 @ 10am.

Fraternally,

Diego Arencón, General President

IAFF Local 244