MAFF Fights to Protect POC Jobs in Novi

MAFF members very existence is being threatened by the Employer in Novi. The Union believes that there is a concerted effort to force paid on call officers out of the department and replace them only with full-time fire fighters. Leading the attack on the local is the Chief who ironically used to be a paid on-call fire fighter himself in another community.

MAFF became the exclusive bargaining agent of the Novi paid-on-call firefighters association in July of 2004. The Michigan Employment Relations Commission conducted the election. The fight was just beginning.

After many bargaining sessions that failed to produce a collective bargaining agreement, MAFF invoked Public Act 312 and took the impasse items before a neutral arbitrator assigned by the state of Michigan. Had the Employer prevailed, it would have made it very easy for the Employer to force out the POC members by instituting an impossible attendance standard. When members failed to meet this high standard, they would be dropped from the Employment roles.

The Arbitrator didn't buy any of it and awarded the Union's position.

Not to be swayed in its ultimate goal of eliminating the POC members, the Employer has found other ways to replace POC with the full-time fire fighters.

MAFF attorney Catherine Farrell has filed an Unfair Labor Practice with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission on behalf of the local.

The charge contains the following allegations:

"The hours of work of the POC fire fighters is and has been 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Monday through Friday and 24 by 7 Saturday and Sunday. By contrast the full-time fire fighters employed by the Respondent work Monday through Friday 6:00 a.m. through 6:00 p.m.

On May 14, 2008, the Respondent, through their Fire Chief, Frank Smith violated PERA MCL 423.210 (1) (a), (c) and (e) by unilaterally removing bargaining union work from the POC unit. More specifically on May 14, 2008 the Fire Chief, Frank Smith failed/refused to sound out (call in) POC fire fighters for a "confined space" detail, which occurred from 11:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. Instead of "sounding out" the POC, the Fire Chief called the full-time fire fighters back to work on overtime. That work was paid at time and one-half. Charging party believes the reason for the refusal to call POC was their decision to exercise their rights under PERA to organize. Such action is a violation of their protected rights under 10 (1) (c). Further the Respondent violated section 10 (1) (e) by refusing to bargain over the subcontracting of POC fire fighters work."

Since MAFF has filed this charge, the Chief has repeatedly on at least two more occasions used full-time fire fighters on overtime to work similar confined space details. MAFF members aren't the only ones suffering from the actions of the Chief Smith. The use of full-time fire fighters on overtime doing POC work costs the taxpayers of Novi a lot more than if the POC fire fighters who are eminently qualified and trained to handle confined space details.

"MAFF will not stand by and let any Employer violate the law, the collective bargaining agreement or the rights of its members," said Ed Wertz, labor relations specialist for MAFF.

The case has yet to be assigned to an Administrative Law Judge at the Michigan Employment Relations Commission.

Flashpoint
Summer 2008