Secondary jobs for IAFF members

Prince George’s County, Maryland, fire/rescue employees and volunteers respond to about 330 incidents every day. Despite impressions left by thewatchdesk and dozens of websites, almost every incident is handled without requiring a police report, firefighter hospitalization or federal inquiry.

Since the beginning, county volunteers become District of Columbia firefighters. Most continued to be a PG volunteer. When the county established career firefighter positions in 1966, DC Local 36 helped organize PG Local 1619.

PG volunteers who worked at DCFD rose to volunteer chief rank at many of the 38 independent PG fire companies. Most were in their 20s and early 30s. A FEW of these two-hatters acted like tin-horn tyrants, using their volunteer authority to jerk around PG career firefighters. These tyrants made administrative, response and operational rules that were demeaning to career staff and affecting the quality of service.

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2000 IAFF RESOLUTION 43: RIVAL ORGANIZATIONS

Local 1619 presented a resolution at the 2000 IAFF Annual conference. Resolution 43 identified 38 volunteer fire department corporations as “rival organizations,” a term from the IAFF constitution and bylaws. The resolution called for charges to be placed against IAFF members who belong to these rival organizations, stating “these individuals continue to belong to volunteer organizations that make decisions which impair the rights and sometimes safety of members of Local 1619.” There were about 150 to 200 IAFF members who were two-hatting as volunteers in PG.

This created a firestorm between career and volunteers that went far beyond what Local 1619 wanted to accomplish. I got so mad at the posturing and mis-information spewed by fire service opinion leaders and columnists that I wrote an article describing the PGFD situation. It was published by Fire Chief magazine in January 2003, read that article HERE.

There was little impact after enforcing Resolution 43. Local 36 made it clear during the trial board process that this was a non-issue for them. It appears that there are more two-hatters volunteering in PG now than in 2000.

2008 IAFF RESOLUTION 2: SECONDARY EMPLOYMENT

The issue of what IAFF union members do on their off-duty time expands beyond the Washington DC metropolitan area. At last week’s convention, Resolution 2 was passed to clarify what the international’s position is.

Resolution 2 directs the IAFF to delete Article XV, Section 3 and insert a new subsection to the list of defined misconduct as “working a secondary job part-time, paid on call, volunteer or otherwise as a firefighter, emergency medical services worker, public safety or law enforcement officer, or as a worker in a related service, whether in the public or private sector, where such job is within the work jurisdiction of any affiliate or which adversely impacts the interests of any affiliate or the IAFF.

Upon a finding of guilt…it is recommended that the penalty include disqualification from holding office in any affiliate and/or expulsion from membership for the period that the misconduct persists. Charges filed for the misconduct described…shall be preferred by a member of the charged party’s local and/or member of an adversely affected affiliate.”

Resolution 2 directs the IAFF to create and maintain a database to track the experience of secondary employment, the filing of charges related to such employment, and the outcomes of trail boards and appeals deciding those charges. Finally it directs the IAFF to create and, at the request of an affiliate through its District Vice President, distribute educational materials to the requesting affiliate regarding the constitutional prohibition on secondary employment, including the basis for this prohibition, and the experience of our affiliates in dealing with this issue.

ISSUE CLARIFIED AND THE CONSEQUENCES RAISED

I was surprised at how many people were comfortable holding a leadership post as an IAFF member AND a volunteer leader at another department with an IAFF local. I wrote about an Eastern Shore individual HERE. What has not changed is the choice. Union membership has obligations.

2007 PGFD Annual Report HERE (large .pdf file)
The Battle Over Kentland Ambulance 339 HERE (PG staffing and operations)

Mike “FossilMedic” Ward

Also on FireGeezer…

• It is a Labor thing … – February 7, 2009
• Firefighter “AIG” Problem – December 31, 2009
• The Neon Red Elephant of EMS – November 22, 2009
• It is ALWAYS Political – July 1, 2009