(Where the fighters face each other for the first time prior to the event)
PRESS RELEASE
3rd Annual Battle of the Badges
El Paso Police vs. El Paso Fire
September 11, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
El PasoCounty Coliseum, 400 Paisano Dr.
The Battle of the Badges is one of the largest events put together by the El Paso Municipal Police Officers’ Association and the El Paso Association of Fire Fighters Local 51 to benefit local charities. The third annual event will take place at the El Paso County Coliseum with proceeds to benefit the El Paso Area Red Cross and the Law Enforcement Torch Run for the Special Olympics of Texas.Approximately ten firefighters and ten police officers train hard year round at various local boxing gyms to duke it out on a night full of pride and emotion for their agency and charity.To add to the emotion, spectators and boxing fans from the area always arrive and cheer on their favorite boxer and cheer for their agency.
Several of the featured boxers have participated in previous boxing events and recognize the importance of training and participating in an event of this magnitude that ultimately is returned to the citizens of El Paso through the listed charities.
The matches are sanctioned through USA Boxing and Border Boxing of El Paso with several sponsors, organizations and local companies helping make this event a success.
Joel Ramos and his family would like to express their gratitude to all the brothers and sisters of the Fire Department for all of their support, thoughts, and prayers. Thank you to all who donated when we passed the can for Joel, we were able to collect just over $2100. This money will help offset some of the extreme financial burden that has been placed on his family and him.
Update: Joel is doing well, he has been moved out of ICU and into a regular room, he will be moved into a rehab room sometime this week. He is concious and in good spirits. Joel has suffered a partial tear of his spinal column and does not have the use of his legs, however he does have some sensation and was able to move his toes yesterday. The full extent of his injury may not be known for many months, if not years. Joel now faces a long healing process starting with at least six months of rehabilitation.
Get well soon Brother Ramos!
Scott Calderwood
Captain Jeff Mackell, 601, and Battalion 3 along with other EPFD brothers have been helping the family. Rick Marin is acting as the Local 51 Liaison.
This letter is being written to inform you about the upcoming contract extension election. In-Station voting will be conducted from August 25, 2010 through September 8, 2010. The mail-out date will be September 10, 2010. The voting period will be from September 10, 2010 through September 24, 2010. The election date is September 24, 2010 at 12:00 noon. Any ballots received after this time and date will be declared invalid. If you have not received a ballot by September 13, 2010, contact the Election Committee Chairman Ruben Loweree to have a ballot mailed to the correct address.
Throughout this recent process, the city manager made some comments about our contract that were not reflective of our position nor our intent. It is unfortunate that the media did not correct the record after the city manager recognized and apologized for the inaccuracies. These events were out of our control.
Let’s talk about the things that we can control. ..It all comes down to this… there is time for blood and there is time for putting our emotions aside in order to do the right thing for the members, as well as the public we serve.
In these tough economic times, many of our brother and sister fire fighters nationwide are facing much more serious consequences such as layoffs, brownouts, wage reductions…loss of benefits. The list is endless.
Locally we have seen the taxpayers in this city vote down bond election after bond election. Most recently EPISD asked for a 13 cent increase and the voters overwhelmingly responded with a resounding no. While the economy in this city is improving, there is still a 10 percent unemployment rate…….
As we move forward with negotiations, we have a plan ready to go so that we will not be the ones facing cuts. Our job is to protect your wages, benefits, and working conditions and that is just what we have been doing and will continue to do on your behalf.
Your elected board members, bargaining team members and I have a seat at the table. We will not leave the negotiation table until we are certain that everything we have fought for over the years remains intact. That includes our pensions.
Our plan is to:
A.Set a meeting to start the negotiations process
B.Propose a one year contract extension
C.Lock in our health insurance
D.Participate in the budget process
E.Fight off the possibility of cuts that would result in brownouts or furloughs
Members, if you have any El Paso Fire Department photos that you would want to share and post on our website, email as an attachment to elpasofirefighters.org or armandochavez54@yahoo.com. Please include date, names and any other pertinent information.We will sort them and add them to our photo gallery.We are getting approximately 100 hits a day.There is a lot of new and current information on our website that our members do not realize.I am asking for all stations to put our icon on their computer desktops so members can remember to click on periodically.This website serves the men and women of the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 51
Just a reminder school physicals are not covered by your health plan. There are a few clinics, including urgent care centers that will do school physicals for a reasonable fee. One is Southwest Urgent Care Center located by UTEP at 2030 N Mesa, (915) 532-7100. They charge $25 for school physicals and they accept walk ins.
Also, vaccines required by the state are covered at 100% under your health plan. Some pediatricians are taking it upon themselves to do a well-child exam in conjunction with these vaccines. If you are taking your child in for vaccines make sure you state that is why you are there. You are only allowed one well-child exam per year after age 2 till age 7. If the Doctor bills for more during the year, they will not be covered.
Joe Alexander, of Alexander Financial, will be in town this week to meet and discuss retirement planning with police and fire fighters. Joe will be in town this Tuesday through Friday, August 17-20. Joe has already assisted quite a few of our members and I highly recommend meeting with him to start planning your retirement. This service is free of charge to all members of Local 51. Joe will also assist your spouse or other family members with their retirement planning as well. Contact Joe at 972-896-5600 or email him at Joe@alexfm.com. Paul Thompson local 51 Trustee
Volunteers needed to assist with setting up bike racks, tables, and stuff for a triathlon to be held on the 5th of September. The day to volunteer to set stuff up is the 4th from 1300 to 1600.
Also, we still need to recruit more volunteers, so please get the word out. All volunteers should send an email toraceelpasovolunteer@gmail.com so that we can register and welcome them accordingly.
Some of the assignments include: registering athletes, body marking, setting up transition and finish areas, operating water stations, directing athletes on the bike and run courses, and of course, motivating the athletes with your cheers.
If you are a participating member of deferred compensation, you can now go to www.prudential.com and log in. On the web page select 457 from the drop down menu, and select register now to create a username and password. Let me know if you want to sign up for deferred compensation. If we get more than a few guys interested, we can have the local rep come to a union meeting to sign members up. You can also go directly to the local office and sign up. Remember, deferred compensation is a great way to supplement your pension in retirement.
Keep in mind when posting comments those members can read what you have to say. Please do not include personal information, such as your last name, phone number or address when replying to our blogs.
All comments will be reviewed before they appear. Spam, profane language, personal attacks or inappropriate comments will not be posted, and we reserve the right to edit or delete any comments that violate these guidelines.
Do you have something you want to sell? A vehicle, a boat, or a musical instrument etc. Place your ad on this page so others can see what you are offering. The cost is free if you are an active duty union member. You get 25 words + 1 photo. Just follow the instructions on placing an advertisement on the classified ads section. Approval by the webmaster will be within 24 hrs. Advertisements will automatically be deleted after 90 days unless renewed.
Trot for Tots RegistrationFINAL2.pdf
Wellness.ppt
