SECRETARY-TREASURER’S MESSAGE COVID-19 HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE FOR EVERYONE. I THOUGHT I WOULD EXPLAIN THE EFFECTS ON MY ROLE AS SECRETARY AND TREASURER OF LOCAL 3888.
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s Secretary of the Association, several of my responsibilities quickly became very important. I knew that communication was going to be a critical component of the Association’s response. Management was releasing several FCC’s a day, some as late as 11 pm. The information provided was essential and timely. Unlike many other city workers, only Officers in TFS have city email addresses. Therefore, it fell on the Association to ensure information disseminated down to the members, making them aware of changes before starting their next shift. I made the decision very quickly to ensure that those FCC’s were posted on our website and emailed to the membership within a half-hour of receiving them. Feedback from members would suggest that they were often more informed than the Platoon Chiefs, who did not have access to their city email while off duty and do not receive emails from the Association. Conference calls became the norm. We decided that the Executive Board would hold a conference call each day, Monday to Friday, at 4 pm due to the quickly changing situation. At least once a week, the Principal Officers (along with other City Union leaders) would take a conference call with the City of Toronto’s upper management. Several times a week, we would be on a call with TFS management. It was my job to capture the minutes of each of those meetings. I did that with a pen and paper from my makeshift office in my bedroom at home. I am still in the process of having those transcribed into digital format. Another one of my roles is to manage the staff of the TPFFA. When we shut down the office, we were able to quickly provide all of the equipment they
needed to do their jobs from home. The phone lines were forwarded and the transition for those calling was seamless. We took advantage of the time the building was closed to change over to a new VOIP phone system. We are fortunate to have excellent IT service at our fingertips. For months, we only allowed one person in the building at a time. We held conference call staff meetings daily in March and have now moved to twice a week. As Toronto moved into stage 3, we began to allow small numbers of people into the building. We gave staff the option to continue to work from home, come in to the office, or a hybrid of both. We have staff in all three of these categories, and things are working quite well. Currently, we are only holding meetings where physical distancing is possible. We have chosen not to open to the public at this time - a decision that is looking smarter every day. We have flexibility built into our plan. As I write this, the number of infections is on the rise again. By the time you read this, we may have adapted once again. For the first time, the TPFFA held a virtual General Members Meeting. The IAFF passed an unprecedented motion to allow locals to do so. There were a few minor hiccups, but generally it went smoothly. Our second such meeting will have happened on September 24th and 25th. COVID-19 has impacted my role as TPFFA Treasurer as well. In December of last year, the membership approved a $4.1M budget. Several of our Committee expense lines are well under budget. We postponed many of our events and cancelled all in-person meetings for almost six months. We do not yet know which of our events will be rescheduled
and which won’t happen this year. The OPFFA held a virtual Convention. The IAFF postponed its Convention until January of 2021. The OPFFA cancelled the Spring Seminar and will hold the Fall Seminar virtually. While we have had some temporary savings, many of our most significant expense lines have not been affected by Coronavirus and are currently close to the budgeted amounts. A COVID-19 Committee line was created under the Health and Safety line so that we can track exactly how much money was spent directly due to COVID-19. We will be re-evaluating our financial situation as we come to our year-end in October. As we budget for next year, we will ensure that we consider postponed events that may still occur and new events that will replace them. The last six months have been extremely challenging for everyone. I consider myself and my family quite lucky. We have all been healthy and able to maintain our income. I know that many of you have not been so fortunate. I can say without hesitation that I am proud to have been part L3888 Executive Board team throughout this pandemic thus far. I am confident that we will continue to serve the membership to the best of our abilities as this situation continues to evolve.
James Reed, Secretary-Treasurer Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association I.A.F.F. Local 3888
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