Announcement
of the
Cape Coral Professional Firefighters Local 2424

Health Insurance Informational

&

Open Enrollment

Meetings

Every Member Must Attend One Session!!

                   August 19^th 2010 at 4:00pm or 6:00pm
                   August 20^th 2010 at 9:00am or 11:00am or  1:00pm
                   August 30^th 2010 at 11:00am or 1:00pm

The Meetings will be held at the Union Hall
407 SW 2nd Ter. Cape Coral, Fl. 33991

**Bring with you birth dates and social security numbers for yourselves and any dependants that you want covered on your plan.

Brothers and Sisters,

As we continue to move forward with opting from the City's Health Insurance plan and purchasing our own, we have come to yet another milestone. Our Health Insurance Trust document is complete and our next step will be the creation of the ?Cape Coral Professional Firefighters Health Insurance Trust?. This trust will consist of 5 Trustees and 1 alternate.

The President, Vice-President, and Treasurer will automatically sit on the Trust as part of their position as a Principal Officer of the Local. The Executive Board will appoint the remaining positions by a majority vote on interested candidates.

At this time the Executive Board is currently seeking active or retired members of the Local to hold the position of a Health Insurance Trustee & Alternate. Notwithstanding the amount of commitment and work ahead during the initial phase of development, this position will mark a historic point in this Local?s life. These positions will be forever the original members of the ?Cape Coral Professional Firefighters Health Insurance Trust?.  They will lay the ground work and foundation for this benefit to build on for years to come.

The initial workload will be more significant than the long term commitment. Your responsibilities will be outlined in greater detail, but you will be expected to attend training seminars paid for by the trust, meet in the sunshine at scheduled meetings (generally on a quarterly basis), meet and exercise your right as a responsible fiduciary agent of the trust and review and assist with plan design.

The Trustees are expected to continue to employ a health insurance consultant, an attorney and any other professional it deems necessary for the purpose of running this Trust.  

If interested, please submit your name in an email by July 23rd,2010 to Secretary Huffman at sof2424@ccpff.com by stating your interest to be considered for a Trustee appointment to the ?Cape Coral Professional Firefighters Health Insurance Trust?. The Executive Board will then review all that are interested and choose two Trustees and one Alternate.

Fraternally,
Mark Muerth
Pres. Local 2424 of the IAFF

U.S. House of Representatives Gives Fire Fighters Collective Bargaining Rights July 1, 2010 -- The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill to give collective bargaining rights to fire fighters and other public safety officers. The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act assures that fire fighters in every state will have the right to talk to their employer about how to improve public safety and do their jobs more safely. The initiative was included in a supplemental appropriation bill adopted by a vote of 239-182. “Seventy-five years after passage of the National Labor Relations Act, fire fighters are a step closer to having the same rights that workers in the private sector have had since 1935,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. While most fire fighters and law enforcement officers are already provided bargaining rights under state laws, too many public safety officers do not have the ability to present ideas about how they can better protect the public safety. The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act will ensure that every state allows discussions between first responders and the agencies that employ them, and will promote productive partnerships between labor and management. Collective bargaining is especially important in light of the fiscal crisis facing many localities. Over the past two years, fire fighters have offered millions of dollars in concessions and given back raises and benefits previously agreed to in order to prevent cuts that would undermine public safety. The Senate will take up the measure following its July 4 recess. Click the link below to contact both of our Senators and tell them to support America's Firefighters and Police Officers  and to vote for The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act.

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm?State=FL