In the wake of the Australian bushfires, firefighters emerged as the legendary heroes of the present time. Standing in the front-line, battling with the scorching hot flames of the persistent Australian bushfires, they’ve come out strong! After months of deliberation and collaboration with the firefighter union representatives, county officials and other parties have finally come out with a draft of the firefighter arbitration bill of rights.
This will be the subject of the workshop in which the county members will hold up to, with the aim of binding arbitration, and to have a standard process in collective bargaining.
How the Firefighter Arbitration Bill Works
The ten-page bill defines and explains the collective bargaining in detail. It will also tackle the county’s managing rights, how to proceed with an impasse, and select a neutral arbitrator. The council is very thankful to the representatives in helping bind the arbitration workgroup. The arbitration binding was in the process over the whole of last year participating in drafting the bill.
Much to their delight, the draft of the bill is here. It’s a piece of joyous news since binding arbitration was not permissible under the prior code, as well as of “impasse.” Now with this arbitration bill, the last resort is to allow various levels of negotiation before a binding arbitration takes place. Nevertheless, mediation will still be an option; however, it will be more like a dialogue.
Concerns on the Bill
The International Association of Firefighter, firefighters’ union, and all its members are still reviewing the bill. They will discuss and review the preliminary concerns before finalizing the bill. One of the main concerns is the language that has been modified to match what voters would approve. They have proposed to change the word “shall” to “may” in the collective bargaining section as well in describing a binding arbitration. The union of representative and the county officials have to agree on it before they could apply at the year-end.
However, in consideration of all the parties, the council would want to sit down and discuss everything ahead to make room for amendments and for changes to be made. It is also not easy to go through a ten-page long bill and have to sit down immediately for a discussion, and a probability of amendment will be done on the spot. Attention and concentration are necessary. Below is the layman’s term explanation of the FireFighter Arbitration Bill.
The FireFighter Arbitration Bill Made Simple
The firefighter bill of rights tackles the discipline of a firefighter officer. The firefighter bill aims to make an office understand any result during a disciplinary investigation. During interrogation, if the firefighter receives information that could provide a routine to “formal discipline,” the interrogator must stop and give the firefighter a union representation.
If the firefighter has a piece of information that could likely result in disciplinary action and proves to be accurate, it is prudent to encourage the members to acquire representation. It is essential to do this before you continue the interrogation of the member.
Discipline through Written Documentation
In the Firefighter Bill of Rights, discipline is any written documentation that will find a mention in the firefighters’ permanent 401 profile. Like any other agency, this is a reprimand in writing. It is, however, possible that an oral reprimand will find a mention in the permanent personnel profile. In short, it has documentation and not just a verbal reprimand.
The firefighter bill of rights is a straightforward thing. If the investigation results can lead the way to a formal discipline to the member, the member gets a union representation. It is mandatory to understand what your agency determines as “formal discipline.” When this is understood, a rational decision can be made concerning following the FireFighter Bill of Rights. The aim is to protect the members as well as the department from any unpleasant situation.
The council hopes after the workshop of the first reading of the bill of rights; there can be an improvement. The inputs from the workshop will hopefully direct to the finality of the amended FireFighter Arbitration Bill or the FireFighter Bill of Rights.