| 8/15/08 |
The votes are in. This process has been approved by the
Union Executive Board, and the votes are official. The results
of the votes are below:
CONTRACT = PASSED
CIVILIANS IN THE UNION = PASSED
NEW MERIT COMMISSIONER = AMY BUSH
Thanks for everyone that took the time and voted. I called the
Trustee after the count to see when I could meet with him and
get his signature. Trustee Hobbs met me at St332 and signed the
contract. When you see him next be sure to thank him for
approving the contract and signing it immediately. The 2009
contract can be viewed by clicking a button to the left.. Also,
I would like to thank the contract committee for their hard work
and dedication. The committee has been meeting since January and
has met 1-2 times a month. Their effort should not go unnoticed
and if you see any of the committee members please be sure to
thank them. The committee members are: Dave Burhenn, Mike
Finnegan, Chuck Jones, Tony Jones, Bill Price, Dave Vasquez, Al
Wood, and myself.
As far as Civilians in the Union, that vote passed as well. I
know from many discussions in the past few days there are some
concerns about this. However, the majority has spoken and I ask
that we all move forward with this and welcome them into the
Union. Liz Munday will be coordinating with them to join and I
have already spoke with Mike Reeves and he is up to speed as
well. After the Civilians fill out the paperwork and join the
Union, I plan on appointing Liz Mundy as an E-Board Member to
represent the civilians.
Lastly, Amy Bush has been elected as the Merit Commissioner to
replace Doc Wisehart. I hope to have her come to an Union
Meeting in the near future to introduce herself and a chance to
meet some of us. I believe she will be a good asset to the board
and a good pick for us as well. If you see Amy around please
welcome her to the Merit Commission.
That's it for now. Contact me or any E-Board member with
questions.
Thanks,
Bob Wallace
Union President |
| 7/10/08 |
Stan "Doc" Wisehart has turned in a letter of resignation.
This is due to him moving. If you see Doc please be sure to
thank him for his service. Doc has been a valuable asset to the
Commission and our Union. His resignation is effective on August
1st, 2008. That said, we will be looking into a replacement.
Bill Price and I have someone we will be interviewing in the
next couple of weeks. However, if any of you have someone that
you would like us to interview please email Bill Price by: July
18, 2008.
To be eligible for the commission the individual must (See code
36-8-3.5-6):
- Be a registered Democrat (Doc was our Democrat
Appointment, Wampler is our Republican) To be a democrat,
political affiliation shall be determined through the
voter's registration records of the three (3) most recent
primary elections.
- Be a Legal resident in Lawrence Township for 3
consecutive years immediately proceeding the commissioner's
term.
- Be a person in good moral character.
- Be at least 21 years old.
- The commissioner may not me an active member of a police
or fire department. (can be retired though)
|
| 6/18/08 |
Another Good Union Meeting. Notes are online. Covered some
contract wording. We'll be working on the contract and should
have it to the membership for a vote in the next month or so. |
| 5/20/08 |
Good Union Meeting tonight. Minutes are posted. Click button
to left to read them. A motion was made to allow the civilians
in the union by a vote of the general membership after our
contract is signed by township. Motion did pass. More to follow
in future. Also the Firefighter Assistance Fund Policy is now
in effect. Click on button to left to review. The Union
Executive Board oversees this policy. |
| 4/24/08 |
In the 2008 current contract 1st year firefighters received
0 hours of vacation time. This was not the intent of the
contract committee, but ultimately was how the contract was
worded. Being that this was not the intent I spoke with the
Chiefs Office during the first of the year, and they agreed in
principle that they should get 24 hours vacation. However, to
make this possible an addendum had to be made to the contract.
Around the first of this month I spoke with President Reeves
downtown and found out that an addendum could be made without a
general vote of the membership being required. This was due to
the nature of the addendum, as it was a being a benefit added,
not taken away. I also spoke with the Trustee and he agreed to
sign said addendum. This signed addendum gives 1 year
firefighters 24 hours vacation! To see the addendum please click
on the contract tab to the left.
|
| 04/15/08 |
Dear Union Brothers and Sisters:
If you see Trustee Hobbs in the next few weeks or so you might
want thank him for keeping our insurance premiums down by
absorbing the additional cost for the second year in a row.
Also, Bill price had a chance to have lunch with the Trustee
last week during FDIC. During this lunch Bill and the Trustee
discussed contract negotiations. With that said, I have arranged
to meet with the contract committee in the near future, and to
present our recommendations to the Trustee. I find it reassuring
that he (the Trustee) has asked about this contract on two
different occasions that I know of.
Lastly, I would like to thank the Union Executive Board Members
and those involved on committees. You time is appreciated and
recognized. I know how busy it can get. I have seen several of
you at the Advisory Board and other meetings. I appreciate that.
I know sometimes it seems like you do this job with little
recognition and sometimes even criticism. Please keep up the
good work. After all, being involved moves us forward,
criticizing does absolutely nothing. For all of those involved,
thanks again.
Bob Wallace
Union President |
| 03/18/08 |
Very good Union meeting tonight, with good input. To see the
notes click on the tab to left. |
| 03/15/08 |
As a reminder the Union Meeting is Tuesday night at 1900hrs.
As outlined in the Chiefs weekend report the Union has been
invited to a retreat that the Administration and Trustees office
is holding. At this meeting I think everyone is going to try to
get a better handle on our finances, goals, etc. Hopefully in
the coming weeks we will begin to have a full understanding on
how the property tax reform will influence all of us. My goal as
your President is to protect pay, safety, and benefits. With
that said, this is what influences my decisions when meeting
with the Chief and Trustee's office. The best way to get updates
on information is attend union meetings, check the union
website, and read you emails.... The emails from the
Administration and Union. There is many items discussed in these
email if people take the time to read them.
I will try to keep everyone updated as we move ahead. Don't
expect a daily report though. If I did this then there would
have been about 15 different emails from me as to the "on and
off" nature of consolidation as we moved ahead. Not only did
this change daily, but change hourly as well. Again, I will keep
everyone informed as best I can.
If you have any questions please see me or an executive board
member.
|
| 02/14/08 |
2008 Awards Banquet is pictures are online now. Please click
on "Pictures" to the left to view them. |
| 02/13/08 |
SB280 appears to have been ruled out for a hearing. However,
there is a possibility that wording could be attached to another
Bill. Please keep checking back for updates. |
| 02/12/08 |
Thanks to all who participated in the planning retreat! The
minutes and survey are both online. Please click "Retreat Notes"
to the left to view. Also, due to the planning retreat
being so close to the February Union Meeting; that meeting has
been canceled. |
| 02/09/08 |
Planning Retreat Surveys are closed. Thanks to all that
participated. Survey results will be discussed at the planning
retreat. |
| 02/08/08 |
Photos of the Dave Edwards Memorial in now online. Please
click "PICTURES" to the left to view them. Thanks to all
that showed up. |
| 01/15/08 |
The surveys are out for the 2008 planning retreat. Please
click on the button to the left to go to the survey. Please
include your unit number. This is to avoid duplicate responses.
Please complete this by Friday, February 8th. |
| 01/15/08 |
The planning retreat is now scheduled. As special thanks goes
out to Bill Price for coordinating this day. Here are the
details:
| DATE: |
Tuesday, February 12 (C-SHIFT) |
| TIME: |
0900-???? , Break and Lunch @ 11:30 |
| LOCATION: |
Ale Emporium
8617 Allisonville Road
Indianapolis, IN 46250 |
| NOTES: |
We will provide snacks in the morning, and lunch in the
afternoon. We will discuss the surveys and other Union
issues.
Please RSVP to
rwallace@lawtwp.org via email by Friday,
February 8th if you plan on attending. |
|
| 01/11/08 |
Many people have asked ,"How do I get more involved?"
This is one of those answers. There are many committees downtown
that we can have a seat on. The committees are listed below, and
the contacts of each. I would encourage anyone that is wanting
to be more involved to try to be on one of these committees.
| NAME |
DESCRIPTION |
CONTACT |
| SPECIAL EVENTS TEAM |
This will be a committee of people
that head up, or coordinate, special events for the
Local. |
VicePresident@L416.com Ron Kautsky - Vice
President |
| HEALTH & SAFETY TEAM |
This will be a committee of people
that look into health and safety issues. Like safe
practices, NFPA/OSHA, Testing Procedures, Gear or SCBA
recommendations etc. This is a committee that would be
useful for if a department was researching new gear they
could ask this team for their recommendations based on
experience and testing. |
Secretary@L416.com Ted Waldroup - Secretary |
| ORGANIZATION REVIEW COMMITTEE |
This is a committee that will look
into how the Local is structured in the event of
consolidation. Also some restructuring of districts
could occur even without consolidation. |
VicePresident@L416.com Ron Kautsky - Vice
President |
| CONSTITUTION AND BY-LAWS |
This committee will look at the
constitution and by-laws of the L416. |
VicePresident@L416.com Ron Kautsky - Vice
President |
| HUMAN RELATIONS COMMITTEE |
This committee meets when needed to
discuss individual issues. Also can be summoned by any
principle officer of the local. |
President@L416.com Mike Reeves - President |
| ATHLETIC EVENTS TEAM |
Schedules, or coordinates events like
golf outings, burn tournaments, Kriech tournament, etc. |
Treasurer@L416.com Mike White - Treasurer |
| PAC |
Deals with PAC issues. County PAC,
State PAC, etc. 1 person per district. |
President@L416.com Mike Reeves - President |
| ELECTION COMMITTEE |
Deals with local elections of
officers. |
VicePresident@L416.com Ron Kautsky - Vice
President |
|
| 01/11/08 |
As Union dues slightly increased this year there were some
questions of what the money goes to. Below is a chart that shows
how your contribution is broken down. 
|
| 01/11/08 |
Senate Bill 280 is the Bill that deals with consolidation.
Click on the consolidation Link to the left to view the Bill. |
| 01/02/08 |
The Grievance form in now available. Keep in mind the first
step is to always see if this can be handled informally through
the chain-of-command. If not, then use the Grievance Form.
Also, the planning retreat surveys will be coming out soon.
The Union Executive Board will help decide what is on these
surveys. Please email suggestions to:
rwallace@lawtwp.org. |
| 12/24/07 |
Our Union dues are tied to our pension base. With the 2008
contract we received a raise in our pension base! That said, our
Union dues are going from $17.74 a check to $18.98 a check (an
additional $1.24 - also includes PAC). I have emailed the Trustee's Office
to have this adjusted the first check of the year. I know no one
likes to have more withheld from their checks, but keep in mind
this is directly reflective of our pension base increase. This
is a good problem to have, as our pension has increased. This
increase in Union Dues is governed by the L416 bylaws, and there
is no way to change the amount without changing the bylaws.
Unless I hear from people individually I will assume that they
are fine with this increase and are comfortable with staying a
member of the Union. |
| 12/22/07 |
The L416 Union Website is now up and running. Grievance
procedures will be
up in the next few weeks. |
