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Message from the Chair - H.R. 413 Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2009
- GAO Two Hatter Report
- Statewide Volunteer Firefighter Retirement Plan by PERA
- NVFC Comments on Article on Collective Bargaining Legislation
- Duluth Firefighters Union boots 3 firefighters for volunteering
Duluth Firefighters Union boots 3 firefighters for volunteering
http://www.duluthneFOX 21 News: Union boots firefighters
After Bob Noldin built a home in Hermantown last year, the 23-year veteran
of the Duluth Fire Department decided he should serve on his new community's
volunteer fire department.
"I thought it would be nice to help them, and they're short [of]
firefighters up here," he said.
Noldin volunteered for Hermantown along with fellow Duluth firefighters
Sandy Merritt and Brian Black. But when the Duluth Fire Union found out, the
three were asked to resign their union memberships early this year. Noldin
said he took that route rather than stop volunteering for Hermantown.
Under state law, the three are still technically union members and have to
pay dues, but they don't have a voting stake in union activities.
Merritt and Black could not be reached Friday for comment.
Full Story
Looks
like Duluth will not be eligible for the valuable SAFER awards.
Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grants of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
http://www.firegrantsupport.com/docs/2009SAFERguidance.pdf
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) should also be reviewed on the grant
program's website (www.firegrantsupport.com).
Appendix 2
Grantee Responsibilities
http://www.firegrantsupport.com/docs/2009SAFERguidance.pdf
Page 32
(9) Not withstanding any provision of other laws, firefighters hired under
these grants shall not be discriminated against for, or be prohibited from,
engaging in volunteer activities in another jurisdiction during off-duty
hours.
Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) Grants of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
http://www.firegran
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) should also be reviewed on the grant
program's website (www.firegrantsupport.com).
Appendix 2
Grantee Responsibilities
http://www.firegran
Page 32
(9) Not withstanding any provision of other laws, firefighters hired under
these grants shall not be discriminated against for, or be prohibited from,
engaging in volunteer activities in another jurisdiction during off-duty
hours.
H.R. 413 Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2009
To provide collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or their political subdivisions.1/9/2009--Introduced.
Public
Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2009 - Provides collective
bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by states or
local governments.
Directs the Federal Labor Relations Authority to determine whether state law provides specified rights and responsibilities for public safety officers, including:
(1) granting public safety employees the right to form and join a labor organization which excludes management and supervisory employees, and which is, or seeks to be, recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for such employees; and
(2) requiring public safety employers to recognize and agree to bargain with the employees' labor organization. Requires the Authority to issue regulations establishing rights and responsibilities for public safety employers and employees in states that do not substantially provide for such public safety employee rights and responsibilities.
Directs the Authority, in such cases, to:
(1) determine the appropriateness of units for labor organization representation;
(2) supervise or conduct elections to determine whether a labor organization has been selected as an exclusive representative by a voting majority of the employees in an appropriate unit;
(3) resolve issues relating to the duty to bargain in good faith;
(4) conduct hearings and resolve complaints of unfair labor practices; and
(5) resolve exceptions to arbitrator's awards. Grants a public safety employer, employee, or labor organization the right to seek enforcement of Authority regulations and orders, as well as prohibitions against lockouts or strikes, through appropriate state courts. Prohibits public safety employers, employees, and labor organizations from engaging in lockouts or strikes.
Directs the Federal Labor Relations Authority to determine whether state law provides specified rights and responsibilities for public safety officers, including:
(1) granting public safety employees the right to form and join a labor organization which excludes management and supervisory employees, and which is, or seeks to be, recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for such employees; and
(2) requiring public safety employers to recognize and agree to bargain with the employees' labor organization. Requires the Authority to issue regulations establishing rights and responsibilities for public safety employers and employees in states that do not substantially provide for such public safety employee rights and responsibilities.
Directs the Authority, in such cases, to:
(1) determine the appropriateness of units for labor organization representation;
(2) supervise or conduct elections to determine whether a labor organization has been selected as an exclusive representative by a voting majority of the employees in an appropriate unit;
(3) resolve issues relating to the duty to bargain in good faith;
(4) conduct hearings and resolve complaints of unfair labor practices; and
(5) resolve exceptions to arbitrator's awards. Grants a public safety employer, employee, or labor organization the right to seek enforcement of Authority regulations and orders, as well as prohibitions against lockouts or strikes, through appropriate state courts. Prohibits public safety employers, employees, and labor organizations from engaging in lockouts or strikes.
Provides
that existing collective bargaining units and agreements shall not be
invalidated by this Act.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-413
S. 1611: Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2009
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-1611GAO Two Hatter Report
Summary Statistics on Two-Hatter Firefighters - Download the full report hereIn November 2004, the House Science Committee requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a study to determine, among other things, estimates of the number of career (paid) firefighters who volunteer their services during off-duty hours. These firefighters are known as two-hatter firefighters. In October, 2005, GAO reported that it could not provide nationwide data on the number of two-hatters because such data were not readily available.
1 In light of this situation, GAO requested that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) collect such information as part of its fiscal year 2006 Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program application process. Thus, DHS included the following question for volunteer, combination, or paid-on-call fire departments to address.
2 How many of your volunteer firefighters are paid members from another career department?
DHS received 18,172 applications. Of these applications, 16,919 were submitted by fire departments.
3 The following is a summary of the data collected based on unvalidated responses to this question.
Number of Two-Hatter Firefighters by Department Type
- Number of two-hatters reported by volunteer fire departments 13,244
- Number of two-hatters reported by combination fire departments 12,568
- Number of two-hatters reported by paid on-call/stipend fire departments 1,922
for the fiscal year 2006 Assistance to Firefighter Grant 27,734
Source: data from DHS’s fiscal year 2006 Assistance to Firefighters grant applications.
1 Restrictions That Prohibit Career Firefighters from Volunteering during Their Off-Duty Hours, Washington, D.C.:
Oct. 2005).
2 A volunteer fire department is composed of firefighters that are not paid for their services, whereas a combination
fire department has both volunteers (unpaid firefighters) and career firefighters. A paid on-call/stipend fire
department has volunteer firefighters that may have other occupations when they are not engaged in occasional
firefighting. Although these firefighters have volunteered to become members and to respond to the call for help,
they are compensated as employees during the time they are responding to an emergency scene or attending training. Alternatively, paid on-call stipend firefighters may receive a monthly stipend.
3 Emergency Medical Service organizations may also apply for the Assistance to Firefighter grants. According to the
fiscal year 2006 program guidance for this grant program, eligible EMS organizations are public or private nonprofit
organizations that provide direct emergency medical services, including medical transport, to a specific geographic
area on a first-due basis but are not affiliated with a hospital and do not service geographic areas where emergency
medical services are adequately provided by a fire department.
Statewide Volunteer Firefighter Retirement Plan by PERA
- Plan explanation - here
Statewide
Volunteer
Firefighter Retirement Plan by the LMNC
In 2009, the Minnesota
Legislature created a Statewide Volunteer Firefighter
Retirement Plan (SVFRP) for volunteer firefighters who provide service
to a
municipal fire department or an independent nonprofit firefighting
corporation.
Participation in the plan is voluntary. The decision to participate in
the plan
is made jointly by the entity operating the fire department and the
volunteer
firefighter relief association. Individual firefighters cannot join the
plan on
their own.
The SVFRP will be operational
Jan. 1, 2010. It will be administered by the
Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) and is optional for
municipalities that either do not have a volunteer firefighter
retirement plan
or are seeking an alternative to their existing plan.
Employers who wish to participate
in the SVFRP may begin contacting PERA to
request a cost analysis for the benefit level(s) requested. The
governing body
of the municipality must then approve coverage, and PERA will begin
administering the plan the following January.
Statewide
Volunteer
Firefighter Retirement Plan Tool Kit available
The League’s Statewide Volunteer
Firefighter Retirement Plan Tool Kit was
created to assist cities that want to join or consider joining the
statewide
plan. The tool kit contains a model resolution, answers to frequently
asked
questions (FAQs), a checklist to use as guidance, a copy of the
legislation,
and more.
The Model Resolution is included
in the tool kit and is also in Microsoft Word
format here so you can customize it for your city:
On March 6th, 2009 the Minnesota State Volunteer Firefighters Association (MSVFA) was awarded a Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant to develop and conduct a recruitment and retention study of the volunteer fire service throughout the State of Minnesota.
details here
MN State Auditors Pension Working Group - Updates
MN State Board of Firefighter Training and Education - Updates
MN Fire Service Advisory Committee (Fire Safety Account) - Updates
National Fire Corp News - Update
National Volunteer Fire Council Fire News - Update
National Volunteer Fire Council EMS News - Update
NVFC Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program - Update
The Minnesota Volunteer
Firefighter
News - News Letter
NVFC Comments on Article on Collective Bargaining Legislation
Changes Made to PSOB Determination Process
Congress may turn up heat on volunteer firemen
NVFC Comments on Article on Collective Bargaining Legislation
US Senate File 2123Recently, an article by James Sherk of the Heritage Foundation about the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act (H.R. 980) has been published in a number of newspapers across the country. The stated goal of H.R. 980 is, "To provide collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or their political subdivisions."
The article cites a provision in H.R. 980 that was designed to protect the right of a career firefighter to volunteer during off-duty hours. Specifically, the provision bars collective bargaining agreements subject to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) from prohibiting employees from volunteering during off-duty hours. The article accurately states that this provision would not protect the vast majority of career firefighters. This is because NLRA applies to nongovernmental employees, while most career firefighters are employed by municipal or county units of government.
The NVFC has worked diligently with Senate staff to develop language that would provide protection to career firefighters who volunteer during off-duty hours. On October 1, the Senate version of the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act (S. 2123) was introduced and included language in Section 8(a)(5) that states that collective bargaining agreements struck in states affected by the bill cannot include provisions prohibiting employees from volunteering during off-duty hours.
The NVFC does not have a position on S. 2123 but is supportive of the language in Section 8(a)(5) protecting volunteer firefighters. The NVFC never established a position on H.R. 980 but would oppose enactment of legislation expanding collective bargaining rights to career firefighters without also protecting the right of those same firefighters to volunteer during off-duty hours should they choose to do so.
National Volunteer Fire Council News
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news release, please call the National Office at
(202) 887-5700 or E-mail us.
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