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The Borough of Chambersburg is situated in Franklin County in
Central Pennsylvania. Chambersburg
is approximately 16 miles from the Maryland border, 180 miles
from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, 50 miles from Harrisburg, and
90 miles from Washington, DC.
So it’s kind of in the middle of nowhere seated in the
middle of everything.
Chambersburg Borough is 6.58 square miles and the population as
of the 2000 Census was 17,862.
For more information on the demographics of the Borough,
click on
www.borough.chambersburg.pa.us.
The IAFF Local 1813 is a local affiliate of the International
Association of Firefighters.
The IAFF is the 16th largest labor union in
the United States representing over 298,000 firefighting and EMS
professionals in two countries.
The professionals represented by the IAFF protect over
85% of the US Population.
One of the frequent questions we get is, “What is the union and
what do they do for you?”
To answer that, “they” don’t do.
WE do for us. A
union is a group of workers who form an organization to gain
respect on the job, better wages and benefits, more flexibility
for work and family needs, a counterbalance to the unchecked
power of employers, and a voice in improving the quality of
their services. Simply
put, a union is only as strong as its membership.
Local 1813 members work under a contract, which was achieved
through collective bargaining.
In that process, members of the union and members of
management meet to discuss where each party stands on the issues
at hand. Normally
those issues cover a broad range. In the event an agreement cannot be reached using
negotiations, the parties will then proceed to arbitration.
In some cases, the next step would be a strike by the work
force. Firefighters are prohibited from striking in the
interest of public safety.
Arbitration is
binding and the decision of the neutral arbitrator is final.
The majority of our last contract was decided by a panel
of arbitrators. In Act 111 Arbitration, the union has an arbitrator, the
management has an arbitrator, and a neutral arbitrator is
appointed. Very
much like you see on "Law & Order", testimony is
presented regarding each issue and the panel of arbitrators then
meet to decide the status of the issue.
Once all of the issues have been hashed out, an award, or
final decision is handed down.
That decision becomes part of the contract.
Arbitration is not only used for contract negotiations but for
other issues that may arise during the course of the day.
Union members are afforded a grievance procedure when
issues are addressed that may be in a gray area or outright
wrong. The
grievance may be handled internally or may have to proceed to
arbitration depending on where the parties can meet on the
issue.
The IAFF is a strong labor union that is always attempting to
protect the safety and health of its members and in the words of
General President Schaitberger, “want more,” for its
members.
Local 1813 represents the
21 career firefighters that put their
lives on the line every day protecting the Borough of
Chambersburg. The
average age of our members is 38 and the average number of years
on the job is 13. We
have members ranging in age from 63 to 24.
Local 1813 members are hired following a process that involves
written civil service testing, physical agility testing, and an
oral interview process. Candidates
offered a position must undergo physical, psychological, and
medical testing before they are appointed.
In order to sit for testing, applicants must have
completed the Essentials of Firefighting course and an EMT
course.
Once appointed, a member
must successfully complete the Harrisburg Area Community
College's fire academy and is also placed on one year's probation and
assigned to either the A, B, or C shift on the ambulance.
There are seven members assigned to a shift. The two lowest members in seniority are assigned to the
ambulance. The next
highest member in seniority is assigned to relief covering
whatever piece of apparatus has a vacancy that day.
If no one is off, the relief man is extra.
That would be the closest we come to staffing that is
remotely near the standards.
The next highest members are assigned to permanent
positions either driving one of two engines or the ladder truck.
In addition, each shift is supervised by a Captain.
Once assigned to a shift and piece of apparatus, the work
schedule is 24 hours on followed by 48 hours off. After one year of employment, members are eligible to use
earned vacation and personal leave.
For more information on that, check out the contract link
to your left.
The Chambersburg Fire Department operates out of
two fire
stations in the Borough. The
HQ fire station is where one engine, one ladder, and the
ambulance are staffed. The
second station in the Borough is known as the McKinley Street
Fire Station. This
station is situated in the south end of the Borough.
This station operates an engine and occasionally an
ambulance when staffing allows.
Our ambulance duty is rigorous and quite busy.
One ambulance handles the 3,500 calls per year that we
respond to. Our
ambulance covers not only the 6.58 square miles of Chambersburg
but significant parts of our surrounding townships.
On top of that, our ambulance crews are expected to
perform double duty on fires in the Borough.
As you may have noticed, we have no personnel assigned to
RIDE the fire apparatus on a permanent basis.
Ambulance personnel “pack up” and fight fire when in
the Borough. It is
not known exactly how many calls are missed because the
ambulance is so busy, but estimates are over 1000 per year.
The Borough of Chambersburg currently contracts its Advanced Life
Support. While
tiered EMS is not seen much in the city environment, it is still
very much alive in Chambersburg.
The Chambersburg ambulance is equipped and licensed only
for BLS (Basic Life Support). West
Shore EMS, an affiliate of Holy Spirit Health
System,
is the contracted provider of Advanced Life Support (ALS) in the
Chambersburg EMS first due area.
So that’s why when you call for an ambulance in
Chambersburg, two units with as many as six people may show up.
Our fire apparatus chauffeurs respond to a variety of emergencies
including several hundred medical assist calls per year.
Anytime the ambulance is committed and mutual aid is
called, a piece of fire apparatus is dispatched.
On top of that, all career firefighters are required to
complete commercial occupancy inspections on a regular basis.
We also participate actively in fire prevention and
public education conducting fire drills and public speaking
engagements on a frequent basis.
As previously stated, the CFD has
21 career firefighters.
In addition to the firefighters, there is one Fire Chief
and one Deputy Chief.
There are also three Shift Captains and a volunteer Assistant chief.
The department also employs one secretary.
While considered a combination department, we have experienced
the same unfortunate trend that has been experienced nationwide.
Our number of volunteers that actually respond on calls
and operate at a fire scene is dangerously low.
We average five career firefighters on duty at any time.
Our career officers work regular business hours.
Our average number of personnel per fire call in 2004 was
4.
We have no type of recall policy for our membership.
For years we were under the policy of the Borough to live
within the Borough limits but were not ever subject to being
called into work in the event of a major incident. Following our last arbitration, we were awarded a 15 air mile
radius in which to live. This
was considered a large victory for our members.
In the interest of firefighter safety, it would be
another victory to institute a recall policy.
This local is
also a proud member of the Pennsylvania Professional
Fire Fighters Association and the Central Pennsylvania
Professional Fire Fighters Association.
We also enjoy a wonderful partnership with the local
Muscular Dystrophy Association and are proud of our fund raising
efforts for that great cause.
Currently, the local is looking at other avenues to
better our community.
The members of The Greater Chambersburg Area Paid Fire Fighters
Association, IAFF Local 1813 are hard-working, dedicated,
well-trained men and women who put their lives on the line every
day to protect you. We
are working hard every day to protect our rights and our voice,
and most importantly, stay safe so that we can effectively and
efficiently protect our community.
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