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Current News Articles |
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As many of you know, our Chief Gallagher initiated a lawsuit against the Firefighter's Pension Board several years ago in reaction to a disability pension granted to a Lieutenant whom he had fired. That Lt. won his job back in court and the incident prompted the resolution from L473 and subsequent HB1553 which passed and prevents Chiefs from firing firefighters who have applied for disability. Initially, 4 of the 5 charges were dismissed and a synopsis was published on the AFFI website. On April22, 2008, the court dismissed the 5th and final charge, ending a baseless 2 year rant and a hemorrhaging flow of taxpayer money in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Our pension board is vindicated and, as with the recent propaganda from the IML, the state needs to know the truth. Baseless charges and accusations will be confronted and the outcomes should and will overshadow the damage done to our reputations. Read the order by clicking the pdf below.
2008 AFFI Fran Gambro Legislative Conference April 7th, 8th and 9th in Springfield, IL Information is now available for the 2008 Fran Gambro Legislative Conference. The conference will be held on April 7th, 8th and 9th in Springfield at the Hilton. Registration forms are available from the AFFI website. Click here for the AFFI Website Waukegan Firefighters Local #473 September 2007 ULP Synopsis On September 21, 2007, the Waukegan Firefighters IAFF Local 473 filed a 68 page Unfair Labor Practice against Chief Pat Gallagher in response to his unjustified and retaliatory suspension of a union member in August. Chief Gallagher’s action and our response comes after years of harassment and intimidation against the Waukegan Firefighters for their protected and concerted activities, actions which have caused over 50 grievances, 5 ULPs, and thousands of taxpayer dollars to date. Shortly after Chief Gallagher took office in 2001, the morale of the union members (roughly 80% of the department at that time), took a precipitous decline due to Gallagher’s punitive management practices, intimidating behavior, and unilateral policies and procedures. When I brought these issues to his attention in 2002, rather than offering to work toward improving the circumstances causing concern, Gallagher asked for the names of those who had a “morale problem”. Within 1 year of Pat Gallagher’s rule, the 21 Lieutenants of the WFD decided to seek protection under the union. In 2004, the Union Exec Board recommended amending the Local By Laws to exclude political appointees. Complaints from the membership about the behavior of the chief and his treatment of bargaining unit employees were magnified by the status of Chief Gallagher and Deputy Chief Orusa as members of the Union. (Gallagher’s published opposition to the fair promotions bill and his memo discouraging the Lieutenant’s organizing cooked his goose as far as most members were concerned). This change was approved but it was recommended by the IAFF that existing members be “grandfathered in”. This further outraged the Local. Also during 2004, Chief Gallagher began working on terminating 2 firefighters, Lt. Lynch and FF Post, for being sick; both had applied for disability and both were terminated for reasons consistent with their disability application. In 2005, the Local, partially motivated by Gallagher’s mistreatment of Lynch and Post and moved to action by his abusive management style, tasked the exec board with research on a “vote of no confidence”, the results of which later became the membership’s list of complaints. Chief Gallagher and his administrative staff have attempted to intimidate Union members with threats of discipline, benefit take-aways, and punitive working conditions. These efforts have produced overwhelming frustration and distrust in the firehouse but no lack of fight. The Lieutenants unanimously signed cards to be included in the bargaining unit. Local 473 responded to Chief Gallagher’s firing of brothers Lynch and Post by sponsoring and, through the hard work of the AFFI enacting, legislation prohibiting the discharge of firefighters due to their disability. Still offended by Chief Gallagher’s continuing efforts to trade on his union membership to divide and weaken Local 473’s solidarity, Brother Bob Callahan filed charges against Gallagher for engaging in conduct detrimental to the best interest of Local 473. These charges included Gallagher’s treatment of Brother Post, his role in the City’s attempt to reduce the Lieutenants’ insurance benefits in retaliation for organizing, Gallagher’s letter against fair promotions, and Gallagher’s anti union memo to the Lieutenants. Procedural objections filed by Chief Gallagher with the IAFF wiped out most of these charges and Brother Callahan withdrew his charges in November of 2006. Concurrently that fall, Chief Gallagher and Deputy Chief Orusa voted for the first time ever in the Local 473 elections and DC Orusa suddenly attended a union meeting when negotiations and finance mattters were being discussed. These intrusive actions rubbed salt in our wounds. In February 2007, the Exec Board, with the assistance of legal counsel, drafted another By Law change to finally put an end to these tactics. This amendment passed unanimously and was later approved by the General President. In April 2007, Gallagher chose to retaliate for these changes by striking at Brother Callahan. He followed him into an office and tried to brow beat him. He then filed a trumped up list of charges against him, ordered him into a 90 minute interrogation session conducted by a highly paid Seyfarth and Shaw attorney. Unable to break Brother Callahan, the Chief suspended him. The Union has decided that it’s time to put an end to this kind of retaliation. We have filed a ULP detailing Chief Gallagher’s misconduct. But this proceeding, as we all know, will take time. Local 473 has decided to shine a spotlight on Patrick Gallagher our "Turn Coat Chief". We’re calling a Statewide Rally in Waukegan. We will announce a time and place in the near future. Please come and show him the strength of the united brotherhood he has betrayed.
Jon Nordgren, President Waukegan Firefighters Local 473
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Waukegan Firefighters Hold Annual MDA Golf Outing at Midlane On Friday June 10th, 2007 the Waukegan Firefighters IAFF Local 473 held their annual charitable golf outing for MDA at Midlane Golf Course in Waukegan. The event was a real barnburner with gusty winds and high temperatures perfect for a firefighter event! Committee chairperson Lauralea Thomas along with President Jon Nordgren, Jack Kruse, Erik Bakke, and Adam Slade welcomed approximately130 golfers from all over the area. Mayor Hyde was on hand to welcome and wish all the golfers well, and to congratulate the committee for their excellent work. According to FF Thomas, the outing has become the 4th largest in the state and last year raised approximately 10,000 dollars. This year’s event raised slightly less, so the committee is looking for you and your support next year to make it bigger and better than ever. MDA representatives were on hand to help coordinate the day, and representative Tim Marabella, who was an indispensable cog in the wheel to make this happen, emphasized how excited he and MDA were to see the effort put out at this annual event. The day started with a putting challenge sponsored by our own local WKRS/WXLC radio station. The winner received a fabulous prize, a trip to Cancun! A player from the Zion fire department won that prize! After that the golfers headed out for a shotgun start and the fun began. Although everyone gave it their best shot, the wind and heat took its toll. Some teams started out red hot, on fire you could say, yet cooled a little as they went on facing the wind and weather, or perhaps indulged in a little too much at the beverage cart as it made the rounds. The winning team was the YMCA team, with several others close behind. As well as the putting challenge prize, there was an opportunity to win a vehicle, with that being sponsored by Classic Chevy, as well as another hole with a trailer sponsored by Total Trailers. There were many other supporters of the outing which were obtained by the hard work of the committee and generosity of businesses and organizations such as DB Aviation, NEIFL of Lake County, Visual Pak, the City of Waukegan, and many others. Special mention is also given to Starbucks who donated $10 dollars per hour for each volunteer that they sent out along with the volunteer work they performed! After the golfing, there was a buffet dinner where everyone could tell of the great putt they almost made, or the beautiful drive right down the center of the fairway! There was a raffle and there was clothing for sale by Bob Callahan of Printwear Express, (proceeds from the clothing went to the cause). All in all it was a great event. Lt. Howard Parks, retired from Waukegan summed it up saying he was glad to be out again, even though he lost a few golfballs, it was well worth the effort and was very enjoyable. Hope to see you all their next year! Scott Carstens Waukegan Firefighters IAFF Local 473
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Illinois Fire Fighter Elected to Village Board of Trustees
“Antioch is a growing community,” says Wolczyz. “As a citizen here, I wanted to have a say in how to improve public safety and plan future commercial development.” One of the major factors that helped Wolczyz get elected was the support from his fellow Local 473 members who campaigned door-to-door, sent mailers and attended public events. Seven candidates ran for the three open seats. Those with the top three votes were elected. The three winners won roughly 55 percent of the 8,036 votes casts. See Original Article at IAFF Site
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May
21, 2007 – A Waukegan, IL Local 473 fire fighter is one of three new faces
on the Antioch Village Board of Trustees. Michael Wolczyz was sworn in and
began serving his first four-year term May 7, 2007.