Message from the Executive Director
40 years and still growing
By Fred Timpner, MAFF Executive Director
Forty years ago this month (December 2023), several local police agencies came together to form a new law enforcement Union. Out of that meeting, the Michigan Association of Police and the Michigan Association of Public Employees were formed. Shortly thereafter, the Michigan Association of Fire Fighters was also created.
As a new Union, MAFF was established based upon the following bedrock principles:
- Honesty
- Transparency
- Respect
- Service
- Every local unit, regardless of size, has a seat on the Executive Board of the Union.
- The Union will be guided by the understanding that the Union works for the members, not the members working for the Union.
- Labor Relations Training will be provided to members and their local leaders.
Augusta Township P.O.C. Firefighters
CONTRACT
“I work for multiple departments and Augusta is unique in that there’s a really good relationship between management and the Union. We’re pretty much a happy group,” said Eric Long, Augusta Township Paid-on-call Local Union President. “Since everybody, with the exception of the Chief, is Paid-on-call, we have all the Officers — from Assistant Chief, Captains to Lieutenants — getting a monthly stipend as we have a whole bunch of job responsibilities that we’re assigned to do. Everybody got the 5%, 3%, 3% annual raises, then we have a stipend, like a salary for the officers, and that was increased by 5%, 3%, 3% also. The reason they went with 5%, 3%, 3% is just because of the dramatic increase in inflation. We have a real good working relationship with the Chief, who was the (Local) Union President before so you don’t have that old battle of management versus Employees.”
Wage Increases:
5% increase effective April 1, 2024.
3% increase effective April 1, 2025.
3% increase effective April 1, 2026.
- In addition to the wage increases for all bargaining unit members, Fire Officers (Assistant Chief, Captains and Lieutenants) monthly stipend to compensate them for their additional assigned job duties was also increased as follows:
5% stipend increase effective April 1, 2024.
3% stipend increase effective April 1, 2025.
3% stipend increase effective April 1, 2026.
Dems reclaim State House with all seats up for election this year, Senate districts being redrawn
Democrats have reclaimed party control of the Michigan House of Representatives. The 54-54 party split ends April 30, when Representatives-elect Peter Herzberg (D-Westland) and Mia Xiong (D-Warren) are sworn in. On April 16, Herzberg and Xiong won the special elections for House districts 13 and 25, which were also previously held by Democrats.
All 110 Michigan House seats are up for election this year. Also on the ballot are the U.S. President, one U.S. Senator representing Michigan, 13 U.S. Representatives representing Michigan, and two Michigan Supreme Court Justices among other state and local races. The primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6, with early in-person voting open from July 27 to Aug. 4. The general election will be held Nov. 5, with early voting available from Oct. 26 through Nov. 3.
Partnership provides firefighters early cancer screenings, improved decontamination methods
Excerpted from WKBW.com News
The Buffalo Fire Department in cooperation with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and Buffalo Professional Firefighters Local 282 are making early cancer screenings available to Buffalo (New York) Firefighters to catch cancers early and save lives, according to a WKBW.com News article.
The partnership started with the formation of a cancer prevention committee between the three partners, which led to the screenings. The cancer center also provides firefighters with decontamination wipes to properly remove chemicals which cause cancer, and together the partners obtained state funding for the department to buy specialized machines to clean firefighting gear, according to the news article.
The program helped a Buffalo Fire Captain detect his lung cancer early, and following surgery, he is now cancer-free and back to work, the WKBW.com News article states.
Click here for the complete article and news video about the partnership on WKBW.com News.
Register today for 34th Annual Carl Parsell Memorial Scholarship Golf Outing
Help local students achieve their dream careers while enjoying a relaxing and fun-filled day on the golf course by registering today for the 34th Annual Carl Parsell Memorial Scholarship Golf Outing.
The golf outing is scheduled for Thursday, June 13, 2024 at The Links of Novi Singh Golf Course. Reserve your team’s spot soon! Reservations are being taken on a first-come, first-serve basis on or before June 3, 2024.
This MAFF-organized day on the course features food, refreshments and prizes along with 18 holes of golf and riding carts. Golfers will enjoy refreshments on the course and hot dog and chips at the turn. At the end of the round, join fellow golfers for a steak dinner, competition prizes, raffles, and the Carl Parsell Scholarship Awards ceremony.