OCFA declares impasse

Dear OCEA member,

We are writing to inform you that last night the OCFA lead negotiator sent us a declaration of Impasse which you can read here. We had a meeting scheduled for March 6, and also offered to meet again after the March 15 JPA Board meeting. Despite those efforts, OCFA management has chosen to declare impasse. We want to thank everyone that showed up at the Feb. 22 JPA board meeting in which several speakers informed the board that management refused to take our last two proposals back to the board so that they could have made informed decisions. It was clear by the amount of people that took their time to just come and support the bargaining team that management’s last, best and final offer was unacceptable. (The last best and final included a one year, 1.75% pay increase and eliminated 24 hour shifts.) It is also clear that management unilaterally made the decision to declare impasse by holding an arbitrary deadline prior to us taking a vote. Management does not dictate when we vote, and we can tell you that none of our proposals came with deadlines. You can read the last, best and final offer here.

One key issue to share is that your bargaining team is not only united in the fact that management's wage proposal and term of agreement are not sufficient, but that the attempts to divide and conquer our team and members by isolating dispatchers has also failed. Our team will not allow management to single out any area of our membership whether it is dispatchers this time, or fleet services, prevention, finance, administration, service center, nurse educators, GIS, or any other group next. We stand united in protecting every single member. To that end, your bargaining team has shared with JPA members two studies commissioned by the Fire Authority that demonstrate that changing from a 24 hour to 12 hour shift not only negatively impacts dispatchers, but also creates a threat to public safety and will cost in excess of $800,000 more annually. These studies were conducted by the Fire Authority, not OCEA. We question why the Authority claims that they do not have the finances to pay you a fair wage increase while they are advocating to increase costs while decreasing services in the ECC.

What is the next step? As part of the impasse procedures, either side may request mediation in order to see if the parties can still find a way to come together to resolve differences and reach an agreement. The Authority has stated that they still desire to explore this option and have requested mediation. We therefore will be working on selecting a mediator and setting up mediation dates as soon as possible. If we are able to reach a mediated agreement, that agreement must be voted on by our membership. We will be communicating with you to let you know when mediation will take place and what, if any, progress is made.

We will continue to fight for the respect and fair treatment that you deserve.

In solidarity,

OCFA Bargaining Team

Publication Date: March 1, 2018