4/20/09

Brothers and Sisters,

                                   Thank you to the members who went to Boston on 4/14/09 for the PFFM Lobby Day. You stepped up and helped influence the Governor to allocate 21 million dollars to bring back laid off firefighters across the state. Your ACTIONS brought RESULTS. We are now working to get Worcester's share of that money. Hopefully we will have our 17 brothers back to work soon.

                                 Our health insurance open enrollment period is coming in May. Expect about a 9% increase for blue cross, about $7/wk. If you have out of pocket medical expenses (who doesn't) please look into a flexIble spending account. There are positives and negatives to these accounts,so please attend one of the educational meetings given by Human Resources. We will post the dates when we have them.

                                 Thank you to the members who responded to the dual status/family leave arbitration hearing. The hearing scheduled for 4/21 has been postponed and will be rescheduled.

                                 IOD-even if you complete the paper work correctly and there is no dispute, your IOD status still maybe delayed. This apparently is due to a admin/clerical delay with in UMASS. Let us know if you have a problem.

                                 DEANS LIST-  if you are on the Deans List and you do Not follow the directive and bring  in a doctor's note within 4 days of booking back on duty,YOU WILL BE DOCKED YOUR PAY.GET YOUR DOCTOR NOTES IN ON TIME. Chief Noone is not excepting any excuses.

                                Check out WFD decreases in manning