2022 Collective Bargaining Team Elections
September 23, 2021 –
The following five (5) candidates have been selected by an online vote to be a part of the next Bargaining Committee:
Jeremy Copus
Christine Jones
Bob Nicks
Alex Vanegas
Donnie Watson
September 15, 2021
The following members have accepted their nominations to be on the ballot for the 2022 Bargaining Team elections:
Jason Christilles
James Rae
Phillip Rangel
David Spidle
As we receive Bios from the nominees we will continue to update this Page.
Please click on the link below for the 2022 Collective Bargaining discussion board. This discussion board is where members can post their questions and comments regards the upcoming bargaining cycle including questions to the nominees for the Collective Bargaining Team.
https://www.iafflocal975.org/forum/topic/2022-collective-bargaining-discussion/
If you want to be notified every time someone posts on this discussion board, click on “Subscribe to this topic.” at the bottom of the discussion board page.
Below is the timeline for the process:
- September 15th – The member online discussion board and candidate bios will be published to the AFA web page and distributed via email to the AFA membership
- September 21st @ 0800 through September 23rd @ 1700 – the online vote for the 5 elected bargaining members will be conduced
- September 23rd shortly after 1700 – Online voting results will automatically be displayed when you return to the online voting link. Also, an email with the results will be sent via email to the AFA Membership.
Now that the AFA firefighters have achieved binding arbitration that may be used as an alternative to contract negotiation impasse, it is important the new AFA Bargaining Committee is formed as soon as our AFA Constitution and Bylaws allows. This new bargaining committee, once formed, will be the primary body that will make the decisions to prepare for and conduct the next collective bargaining negotiations and binding arbitration, if necessary. To comply with the AFA Constitution and Bylaws, the newly elected AFA Bargaining Committee will not take effect until October 1st, 2021.
Here is the section of the AFA Constitution and Bylaws that govern the timing and composition of the AFA Bargaining Team Committee:
“Nine (9) members shall be selected to serve as the Bargaining Committee for the Local. This Committee shall consist of five (5) elected members and four (4) appointed members. The four (4) appointed members shall be appointed by the President and ratified by the Executive Board. This Committee will be formed up to twelve (12) months prior to the anticipated effective date of the Collective Bargaining Agreement they are being selected to bargain for. Their term will end when the next Bargaining Committee is formed. If a vacancy occurs during a bargaining cycle, the President shall appoint a replacement which will be ratified by the Executive Board.”
This will be our first time using our new platform and new discussion board forum so I expect a few hiccups. If you have any issues with logging in to the new platform or the discussion board please contact Tim Olson at (512) 441-7572 or via email: [email protected]
Bob Nicks
President, Austin Firefighters Association