September 03, 2010
What's New at IAFF 851
Halfway to St. Paddy's Party

Posted On: Aug 24, 2010 (09:01:26)

Eugene Firefighters

Pipe Band

BENEFIT

SEPT. 17 .

AT

STARBOARD

MORNING, I,

Music

performances by:

AND

NIMROD BLUES BANDI

, ,

THE

STARTS AT 6:OOPM

INCLUDES: Full BBQ Dinner. BEER, Bagpipes, Celtic Rock , Blues, and MORE

Half Way to lft

ST. PATRICK’s DAY .I’s

TICKETS: $20 AI:

VAILABLE ISTARTING IAUG. 10 .AT THE COOLER! !

Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Updated On: Jun 29, 2010 (11:44:00)

 I have been hearing about a Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program through the federal government.  If you have federal student loans or have consolidated federal student loans through a third party such as Sallie Mae, etc you may be eligible for the remaining balance after 10 years of payments to be paid off by the government.  Here is a link to some information about the program:

www.finaid.org/loans/publicservice.phtml

In order to see if your student loans are eligible for the program or eligible to be consolidated you need to call this number at the National Student Loan Database  1-800-433-3243

Once you find out if your student loans are eligible you can consolidate them at this website:  www.loanconsolidation.ed.gov 

So my own loans are a good example.  I had a balance of $21,000 with monthly payments of $141 a month through Sallie Mae which I had consolidated my federal student loans about 4 years ago.  I just applied for federal consolidation today so my loans would be eligible for the public service loan forgiveness program and now have an interest rate of 2.375% and monthly payments of $80 dollars a month graduating up to just under $100 a month in years 8 - 10 of the 20 year note.  

So in summary I will pay about $10,000 of the $21,000 over the next ten years and in 2020 they will forgive the remaining balance of $11,000 dollars.

If you have any questions please call me and I will see what I can do to help.

Nathan 2/A 541-914-4151

Craig Phillips - Floods in Nashville

Posted On: Jun 29, 2010 (10:50:39)

 Here are some photos from my visit to Nashville and help with flood relief
efforts. Local 140 President and TN State Rep. Gary Moore and VP Mark Young
were very appreciative of our contribution to their relief fund.  I spent 3
days with members from Local 140 helping at the relief center, delivering
building materials and working on firefighter Brent Weatherly's home.  Brent
had 9'4" of water in his home on the second day of flooding and had to
rescue his wife and daughter from the second floor by boat after getting off
shift!  There are some photos of photos taken during the first day of
flooding by Brent's neighbors.  The first floor of his home was gutted down
to the studs/joists and dried with fans for a month prior to rebuilding.
Look for the water line on the upper windows panes in the sun room photos;
it's unbelievable.  There are 56 members of Local 140 that had their homes
damaged or destroyed and 7 cannot rebuild now that FEMA is changing the
flood plain maps. Nearly everyone in Nashville that had federal flood
insurance policies cancelled them in the past 2 years when FEMA said they
were not in a flood plain that required insurance.  The few who had
insurance learned that it only covers structural damage and does not cover
contents.  This was a great group of guys that were very happy to have some
extra help and support from us here in Eugene.  Thanks again for the
donation to the relief fund and  you are welcome to share the photos.

Craig Phillips

Photos are posted in the Photo Gallery.  Link on the left.

 

Contract Summary

Posted On: May 21, 2010 (21:02:57)

Contract Summary Update

(Articles not mentioned were agreed signed as current contract.)

Article 7, Fire Service Effectiveness:  The Union agreed to meet regularly and work with the City to reduce costs while maintaining high quality service.

Article 8, Union Representatives:  Union representatives can be exempt from drafts while on official union business.

Article 11, Hours and Overtime: 

1.     Effective July 1, 2010, Kelly Days will be implemented.  Every employee will receive every 18th shift off, on a regular schedule (to be determined by the City.)

2.     The FLSA cycle will change from a 21 day cycle to 27 day cycle.

3.     The overtime wage rate will remain the same for July 1, 2010 until June 30, 2011.

4.     On July 1, 2011, the overtime rate will increase based on the 53-hour work week.

5.     The Union will take over most hiring duties as of July 1, 2010.

6.     The City will be responsible for morning-of hires.

7.     The City can hire morning-of calls utilizing off-going shift first, unless someone is two or more slots behind.

8.     If you are drafted, you must first attempt to find a replacement.  If you aren’t successful, contact the hiring chief.

9.     The use and accrual of compensatory time is modified in the following ways:

a.     Any time worked outside Fire Suppression is not eligible for comp

b.     No comp if you are working Kelly Day relief

c.      No comp if you are working for someone off on Comp Time

d.     No splitting of an overtime shift/partial shift between comp and OT pay

e.     No Comp for travel time

 

Article 12, Conversion of Wage and Leave Accruals:  The Union is notified when finance is supposed to begin the conversion.  Effective July 1, 2011, the conversion factor is modified to reflect the 53-hour work week.

 

Article 15, Uniforms:  Minor changes to allotment and composition of garment, Fire Prevention gets choice on allotment and switches to blue shirts

 

Article 15, Personal Leave:  All 40 hour employees will receive two additional vacation days.  This includes the training positions.  (Some minor language clean up also)

 

Article 20, Wages:  No COLA for 24-hour shift employees for three years in lieu of Kelly Days.  1% on July 1, 2010 and 1% on July 1 2011 for all non-suppression employees:  Logistics, Training (EMS Instructor, Training Captain, Fire Instructor), Deputy Fire Marshals

 

Article 17, Health and Accident Insurance:  Maintenance of benefits for the life of the contract.  No increase in co-pays or premium share.

 

Article 32, Station Facilities:  The City will provide and maintain washers and dryers in each fire station.  Employees will be issued sheets and towels and will be responsible for laundering them.  The City will continue to provide laundering service for dish towels, floor mats and shop rags.  The City will continue the full laundry service for Station 12 until the new station is completed.

 

Memo of Understanding for Kelly Days:  beginning July 1, 2010 until June 30, 2011, Union members will share in the cost of Kelly Day.  For each 18th shift off, members will use 12 hours of vacation or holiday and the City will provide the rest of the relief.

 

Memo of Understanding for Cost Saving Strategies:  the City and Union will work collaboratively to identify savings to the general fund, with the target goal being $100,000.  We have started with elimination of pagers and linen service reduction.

 

Memo of Understanding on Dissolution of Medic Series:  As soon as the Medic Series cease to run, the contract will be modified to show this change.  Union and Management have agreed that final printing of the contract will not occur until this happens.

 

 

 

U of O Baseball Tickets

Updated On: May 12, 2010 (17:00:00)

Oregon Ducks Baseball Tickets

Firefighter day at the ball park

Date:             May 15th

Location:      PK Park

Time:             5:00 pm

Oregon vs. East Tennessee State

Tickets are limited $5.00 per person

 

 

Firefighters and their family can use the below link to buy online at the promotional rate of $5 each (reg. $15).

 

All tickets purchased with this
promo code will be allocated in the same area (section 11).

http://ev10.evenue.net/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/SEGetEventInfo?ticketCode=PR%3AOREGON%3ABB10%3ABB23%3AFIREFIGHTERS&linkID=uoregon&shopperContext=&caller=PR&appCode=&prc=FIREFIGHTERS&ppc=FIREFIGHTERS

 

 
 

 

2010 Primary Endorsements

Posted On: May 05, 2010 (13:29:04)

 2010 Primary Endorsements

U.S Senate Ron Wyden
U.S. House Pete DeFazio
Governor John Kitzhaber
SD 4 Floyd Prozanski
SD 7 Chris Edwards
SD 6 Lee Beyer
HD 8 Paul Holvey
HD 11 Phil Barnhart
HD 13 Nancy Nathanson
HD 14 Val Hoyle
City Council
Ward 3 Alan Zelenka
Ward 4 George Poling
Ward 5 Mike Clark
Ward 6 Patt Farr
Lane County Commissioner
Springfield Pat Riggs-Hensen
West Jerry Rust
 
Oregon Fire Service Honor Guard Fundraising Raffle

Posted On: May 03, 2010 (10:07:37)

 OR - Fundraiser Raffle - Tim McGraw Concert Tickets

The Oregon Fire Service Honor Guard is holding a raffle for two pairs of

Tim McGraw concert tickets

( total of 4 tickets )

All money raised will be used by the Honor Guard to purchase flags for funerals, axes and flag poles, and to host the annual Fallen Firefighters' Memorial in September, which is a tribute to out fallen heroes and to thank their families.

These tickets are not tickets bought off the internet and given away. They have been personally donated by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill.

Because of this, the Honor Guard does not have exact seat locations for the tickets, but we have been assured by Tim that you "will not be disappointed. These are very good seats."

The concert will be at the Rose Garden in Portland on Saturday, May 22 at 7:00 pm. Ticket prices are $10 each, you can purchase 3 for $25 or 5 for $40. We will sell only 500 tickets, drawing two numbers, one for each pair. If you are interested, click on the link below and follow the directions. We will not send you a physical ticket, but rather assign you a number or numbers, depending on how many tickets are purchased.

Online purchasing will close on Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 5:00 pmYou may purchase tickets at the Northwest Fire and Rescue Expo until noon, May 15, 2010. We will draw the two winning numbers on Saturday May 15 at 3:00 pm. Winners need not be present to win.

Winners will be notified on Monday, May 17.

Please help the Honor Guard. YOUR Honor Guard and get a chance to see Tim McGraw live in concert.

Thank you and good luck.

Go to this web-link to purchase raffle ticketshttp://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YZ9ST8D

 

What does Health Care Reform Mean

Posted On: Mar 29, 2010 (18:32:48)

   

What Does Health Care Reform Mean 

for Fire Fighters? 

 

On Tuesday, March 23, after decades of debate and months of back-and-forth in 

Congress, President Obama signed historic health insurance reform legislation into law.  So, the 

big question is:  What does health care reform mean for fire fighters?  At its core, this law is 

about two things:  covering 32 million uninsured Americans and preserving the insurance you 

already have and fight hard to protect.  Here is what the new law will mean for you and your 

family:  

 

1. Does the new law tax my health care benefits? 

 

The new law will not impose an “excise tax” on health care benefits until 

2018, and even then it will apply only to the most expensive plans.  The 

IAFF fought hard to eliminate the tax, and ended up reducing its size by 85 

percent, compared to the original Senate bill.   

 

The minimum threshold for triggering the tax in 2018 will be $27,500 for 

family plans and $10,200 for individual plans.  Separate dental and vision 

plans are not counted toward the thresholds. 

 

Adjustments for plans that cover high-risk workers like fire fighters and 

other high-risk occupations raise the thresholds to $30,950 for families and 

$11,850 for individuals.  The law creates other adjustments for unusually 

high premium rate increases and plans in high-cost states.  The IAFF will 

work to ensure that fire fighters can take advantage of these added 

adjustments.  

 

These amounts are indexed at the Consumer Price Index (CPI) +1 

percentage point from 2018 to 2019 and at CPI beginning in 2020. 

 

We have conducted extensive surveys of affiliates across the country and 

among our largest affiliates and have not identified a single affiliate that 

will be hit by the tax.  But to be clear, the tax is assessed on insurance 

companies on the cost of the health plan that exceeds the threshold.  

There is no direct tax on the individual.  

 

2. What does the law do to the health care coverage I have now? 

 

  

Fire Fighters and Health Care Reform – 2  

You will not lose the benefits that you have protected through real 

sacrifices in wages and other benefits over the years.  Nothing in the 

reform law forces any changes to the benefits you have now.      

 

You keep the doctor you have.  Reform will not interfere with your choice 

of a doctor. 

3. Will it bring down my premiums and give us some relief when 

we negotiate health care at the bargaining table? 

 

Bringing down costs is one of the principal drivers of this new law.  

According to the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), 

premiums should at least stabilize in the next few years.  

 

Premiums should come down over the long-term through reducing 

insurance company administrative costs, increasing competition and 

insuring 94 percent of all Americans. 

 

You have seen your premiums double over the last 10 years, increasing 3- 

times faster than wages.  You have made the hard choices to protect your 

health care benefits.  The status quo is unsustainable for you and your 

employer.   

 

4. How does health care reform affect my family now? 

 

Your son or daughter can stay on your health plan until their 26th birthday. 

 

Insurance companies are banned from dropping you when you get sick. 

 

Insurance companies must cover the full cost of preventive care, 

including annual physicals and children’s immunizations. 

 

Insurance companies cannot deny coverage to children based on pre- 

existing conditions.  By 2014, no one can be denied insurance coverage 

based on a pre-existing condition. 

 

Insurance companies cannot set lifetime limits on benefits and the new 

law regulates any annual limits that insurance companies may set. 

 

5. What about emergency care and ambulance reimbursements? 

 

  

Fire Fighters and Health Care Reform – 3  

Hospitals and emergency rooms are overburdened meeting the basic 

health care needs of the uninsured.  Covering 94 percent of all Americans 

will give much-needed relief to fire departments and emergency rooms, 

but the bill will not put reimbursements to fire departments in jeopardy. 

  

6. Does the bill do anything to promote wellness programs? 

 

Promoting and subsidizing preventive care and wellness is a centerpiece 

of the new law.  The IAFF continues to review the law to determine which 

grant programs will support wellness programs in the public sector.  The 

IAFF’s Wellness Fitness Initiative far exceeds new criteria for qualified 

wellness programs under the new law. 

 

7. Does this new law increase the federal debt and deficit? 

 

The new law is fully paid for, according to non-partisan budget estimates.   

These reforms are projected to shrink the deficit, not grow it.       

 

The new revenues come from increasing the Medicare tax on high-wage 

earners ($200,000, individuals; $250,000, families), squeezing savings from 

wasteful spending in Medicare, and slapping new fees on health 

insurance companies, drug companies and employers that refuse to offer 

coverage to their employees. 

 

8. How does reform help retired fire fighters? 

 

Through the end of 2013 the law creates a $5 billion temporary 

reinsurance program to reimburse employer health plans for 80 percent of 

early retiree (ages 55-64) health claims that cost more than $15,000 but 

less than $90,000.   

 

If you’re on Medicare and fall into the “doughnut hole” in prescription 

drug coverage, this year you will receive a $250 check to help cover your 

medical expenses.  Next year, you will get a 50 percent discount on 

brand-name drugs and in 2020 the coverage gap will close for good. 

  

If you’re uninsured and can’t get coverage because of a pre-existing 

condition, this year you can buy insurance from the government until 2014 

at a cost of less than $5,950 for individuals and $11,000 for families.  In 

2014 you may be eligible for coverage through a state-run exchange. 

 

  

Fire Fighters and Health Care Reform – 4  

Medicare will deliver health care to senior citizens more efficiently.  The 

law cuts wasteful spending and insurance company subsidies in the 

Medicare program to extend its solvency by nine years.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The IAFF continues to review the law and will 

provide tools to our affiliates in the coming 

months to help our members utilize what it has 

to offer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Fire Fighters and Health Care Reform – 5  

After a long legislative battle, historic health care reform is the law of the land.  But, it does not 

end the IAFF’s commitment to protect and defend our members’ health care benefits.  As the 

new law is implemented over the next few years, the IAFF will do everything in its power to 

make certain that this new law works for fire fighters. 

 

Health Care Reform Misconceptions 

 

Here are a few clarifications to some misinformation on health care reform.  You 

have heard that health care reform will… 

 

 

Increase middle-class taxes.  Only singles and families earning over $200,000 

and $250,000 will pay more in taxes.  If you make that much, starting in 2013, 

you will pay more in Medicare payroll taxes (2.35 percent, not the current 1.45 

percent).  You’ll also pay an additional 3.8 percent tax on income from stock 

dividends. 

 

Impact your IRAs and DROP plans. No income tax will be applied to individual 

retirement accounts, 457s or DROP plans. 

 

Cover illegal immigrants.  The law will not extend benefits to illegal immigrants.  

The law directs the Department of Health and Human Services to verify that 

uninsured Americans seeking coverage are citizens or otherwise in the United 

States lawfully.  

 

Be a government takeover.  Of the Americans that will get covered, 24 million 

will be covered through private insurance and 16 million will get coverage 

through Medicaid.  The law builds on the three pillars of the U.S. health care 

system:  employer-provided private insurance, Medicare for the elderly and 

Medicaid for the poor.   

 

Cut Medicare.  The law stops overpayments in the Medicare program.  These 

reductions cannot reduce guaranteed Medicare benefits.   

 

Bankrupt the States.  The federal government will pay the full freight for 

expanding the Medicaid program for the first three years, 2014-2016.  States will 

have to kick in 5 percent in 2017, 6 percent in 2018, and 7 percent in 2019.  

 






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