Alberquerque trip results
Brothers/Sister,
Here is the report from the trip to Albuquerque that Chief Ross and I took.
We arrived in Albuquerque at 11:45 am on the 30th of November. We picked up our rental car and called John Garcia, President of Local #244. He asked us to meet him at a favorite hometown restaurant for lunch. As John pulled up, we noticed he was driving a brand new Fire Department Sedan. I thought, hmmm.. he must work a day job for the Department. After introductions, I asked John if he was a day crew lieutenant (He was wearing a lieutenant’s badge on his uniform). He stated that he was the Union President, which was his job title for the City. He was paid his salary from the City, provided with a City Car with a gas card and also received a small stipend from the Local. He works 4 ten hour days. Also joining us for lunch was Eric Mendoza, one of the Executive Board Members. During lunch we had a very good discussion about the history of their Fire Department. 22 Stations, 22 Engines (4 person), 5 Trucks (3 person), 17 Rescues (2 paramedics, they are ambulances, but they don’t transport), 3 Squads (2 person, they are similar to our Heavy Rescue and run for HazMat & Tech Rescue) & 4 Commanders (1 person, same as our BC’s). The Department has nearly 600 members and serves a community of 182 square miles. Now to the stuff you have all been waiting for: The work schedule.
As far back as most of the firefighters in Albuquerque could remember, they worked the schedule referred to as the “three, three, three”. This shift is three 10 hour days from 0800 to 1800, followed by three 14 hour nights from 1800 to 0800, followed by three days off. In 1996 there was a movement to change shifts to something different. Well, it is different alright. They went to what is referred to as the “day, shift, night” schedule. This was one 10 hour day shift from 0800 to 1800, go home, the next morning go to work for a 24 hour shift, go home, then come back for a night shift from 1800 to 0800, then you would have three days off. This went on for 8 to 9 months. At this point, approximately 75% of the Department was working what is referred to as the “Scam Shift”. They would RDT their day for the night shift, hence creating “48 hours on, 96 hours off”. This went on for a little over a year and the Local moved forward for a permanent change. The vote came down with an 85%-87% pass rate and in 1998; the Albuquerque Fire Department was working the 48-96 and has ever since. After a huge home-style Mexican lunch, we went to Fire Station #13 to talk with some of the members there.
President Garcia introduced us to Ruben Collado, the Captain of the Squad at Station #13. He told us the same information regarding the “scam shift” and once they made the permanent switch how you would not be able to take the schedule away if you tried. He went on to tell us that during the time period when they were looking at going to a different shift than the three, three, three, they did attempt to try the 24/48. Their rescue folks were separate from the engine folks (they didn’t cross over or cross train between fire fighters and paramedics) so they allowed the rescue companies to try the 24/48 for a trial period. He told us that they hated it so much; the trial only lasted for 4 months. The Department has also since allowed cross training and cross over for fire fighters and paramedics. We left Station #13 and headed West for Fire Department Headquarters.
Their Headquarters is a huge complex with a training facility complete with dozens of classrooms and a large theatre. Next to the training building is the drill tower and drill grounds complete with forcible entry props, pitched roof props, natural gas props and propane props. Crews were hard at work doing RIT training. The Administration building was a huge two story building that looked like the front of the starship enterprise; it was rounded with a thin strip of windows through the middle. The Administration building housed the Fire Department Admin, Fire Department Dispatch, and the County Dispatch. We met Chief Robert Ortega and sat down to talk with him and President Garcia. Chief Ortega explained that he was adamantly opposed to the schedule change when he was on the line in 1998. But after six months or so, he changed his mind and really started to like it. We began to ask questions to the Chief about disadvantages to the schedule. He stated that he felt that training was becoming an issue when firefighters took off on trades or using sick leave. They were attempting to get a handle on the problem. The Chief went into detail of their Sick Leave Management Plan. It has been in place for over 25 years.
Here is an overview of what the Chief explained about that plan.
Anyone may have an occasional “increased usage year” as far as sick leave absence is concerned however, it is not acceptable for an employee to have continuous increased usage years unless there is a documented medical condition of sufficient severity to explain the absence pattern. The acceptable level of sick leave usage for the Albuquerque Fire Department is 50% of your yearly accrual and is based on unexcused sick leave occurrences on a rolling calendar year basis.
Improper use and/or over utilization are just cause for disciplinary action. Absences involving Sick Leave emergency, Sick Leave FMLA, Sick Leave Injury or Sick Leave Hospitalization will continue to be charged sick leave but will be excused from the acceptable standard. All excused/unexcused absences require appropriate documentation. Chronic occurrences of the before mentioned leaves will be on record and may cause an investigation by the Deputy Chief of HR.
STEP 1 of the Plan: Increased utilization Conference 50% to 63% (48 hours usage up to 60 hours usage): The immediate supervisor will hold a conference with firefighter employee to identify possible issues and to take corrective measures. Union representation may be brought in. You are required to bring in a sick leave form with the Physician Certification section completed for each sick leave absence.
STEP 2 of the plan: Sick Leave Monitoring Program 64% to 83% (61 hours usage up to 80 hours usage): The Division Commander will hold a second conference with firefighter employee. The Union and immediate supervisor shall be in attendance to assist with an improvement plan. The Deputy Chief of HR will be apprised of the outcome and action taken. Possible firefighter restrictions (as per union contract):
a. Required to provide a leave form with the Physician Certification section completed for each sick leave absence.
b. Requests for outside employment will be denied or existing requests for outside employment will be revoked.
c. Firefighter may be ineligible for modified light duty from off the job injury.
STEP 3 of the plan: Uncorrected Sick Leave Management Plan 84% to 100% (81 hours usage up to 96 hours usage): The Deputy Chief of HR will hold the third conference with firefighter employee. The Division Commander, immediate supervisor and union representative shall be in attendance. The disciplinary process may be initiated. Possible firefighter restrictions if applicable:
a. May be ineligible for comp time usage or accrual to include flexing schedule.
b. May be recommended for EAP.
c. May be ineligible for Trades.
d. May be ineligible for shift transfers.
e. May be placed in a leave without pay status for sick leave over utilization.
f. possible disciplinary action (if applicable).
g. Possible work reassignment if work performance is negatively affecting Department.
h. May be required to take a fitness for duty exam.
WOW! I thought as the Chief was explaining this process. It seems to be a very restrictive process and might border on breaking Federal laws regarding HIPPA. I also noticed Renn’s ears perked up as well. I will look into this further if these come up in our talks.
The firefighters in Albuquerque accrue 12 hours of sick leave per month. They use sick time hour for hour. Also they can cash in their sick leave at a sliding scale based on length of employment, with the payout based off of their regular hourly rate.
The Chief then explained that on holidays they have seen an increase in sick leave utilization of 48 hour blocks. They have instituted a program that requires you to bring in a Doctors note if you are sick on any of the “excessive sick leave usage days” They are: Jan. 1st, Super Bowl, Mother’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving, Dec. 24th & 25th & 31st.
The next subject surrounded training. The Chief told us that they were having some issues keeping up certifications for some training. The Department does training much different than we do. They take 7 companies out of service each training day for an 8-9 hour block of training. Then they go again on the second day of the 48. The following day when we spoke to the Training Commander, he stated that he thought all training was being addressed and it is much better than when they worked the previous work schedules.
The Chief also told us the only other down falls were: difficulty replacing someone part way through the shift (VL, SL or on the job injury) and when they experience a major incident they have a hard time with call back.
The Chief did caution us about the perception that certain things would only need to be done once per 48 hour shift. He said his Department performs all daily checks on apparatus, SCBA, etc…. so there will not be any question that they are ready for duty each shift day.
We then went up to the Fire Department side of Dispatch. Their room was overlooking the entire City and it was bright and lively (unlike every other dispatch dungeon I have been in). The Bros in the alarm room were having a good time, eating candy, cracking jokes and when calls came in, instantly down to business. They all agreed that the shift worked very well and they have a hard time finding personnel to go into day crew jobs. Albuquerque tests for promotions like we do for day crew jobs, the difference is that if no one wants the job, the junior driver is forced into day crew for I believe a two year stint. (Yuck!)
That concluded day ones activities.
Day two: Renn and I met with John Garcia and Chief Stewart Mike Paiz for breakfast and had more discussion about the schedule. After breakfast we went to Station #17 where they do all of the staffing. Their staffing board was almost identical to ours, only it was twice as long and it was for each shift. They have a dedicated person in the staffing room everyday. They also work the 48/96. We had more discussion about the schedule, Telestaffing (the program they use for staffing) and the Sick Leave Management plan (there were notices on the board for each shift of offenders of sick leave). While we were there, they had a phone conversation about call back. They pay four hours per call back. A member was called back at shift change and was not needed, so they told him that he would get his four hours and could go home. The member got upset and said he wanted at least 10 hours because he had to get daycare. We got to see the Union President in action. He took the call and handled it. I can imagine he has dozens of calls like that per day with 600 members.
After seeing the staffing station in action we went to Fire Station #21, one of the newest stations in the City. The crew arrived and greeted us and told us how great the schedule was for each of them. All of them stated that they have their families come down to the station for dinner from time to time and always for holiday dinners. It was interesting listening to their lingo. They state how long they have on the job in years and months. For example the Captain of the engine said he had 19, 8 which meant he had 19 years, 8 months on the job. Their retirement is pretty awesome. After 20 years of service, they can retire at 70% of their avg. salary. 18 months from their retirement date, they begin receiving an automatic guaranteed 4% COLA each and every year of that anniversary. After 22 years and 10 months, they get 80% retirement and the COLA is the same parameter. WOW. Impressive.
I must say I was most impressed by the professionalism and courtesy that was displayed by every member we met. They all jumped up and ran over to shake your hand, would hold doors and waive you through, offer anything that you might need while we were at their facility. It was awesome.
All in all the trip went very well. I believe that Renn had a lot of his questions and concerns answered during the trip. As I have said before, Renn’s stipulation for 4th platoon was the same for 48/96, we needed to go to a department of like size and run volume and compare so he could make an informed decision whether he would support the shift schedule. So far so good. Keep your fingers crossed. I sent Renn my preliminary MOU language on Monday, he replied with several changes, most of which we can live with, but there are a few that we need to work on. I will keep you all posted to our progress. We have a meeting set up with Renn to talk again on Friday the 16th at 0900. Brother Womack, Pawek, Oldenburg and I will be meeting with Renn.
Fraternally,
Tom Lovell