Making the Right Choices for Our Union
From the September-October 2000 issue of the International Fire Fighter

Because this is my first column as your new General President, I want to take the opportunity to introduce myself to you and our IAFF members across the United States and Canada.

Although all of our Union's International, state, and provincial affiliate officers know me well, as do the majority of our local union officers, I believe it is important that you and our 240,000 IAFF brothers and sisters also know who I am, what I stand for, and where I hope to take our Union, with your help and support, in the coming years.

But first, I want to thank each and every one of you for giving me the honor and the privilege of representing our great union.

Like most of you, I started my career as a professional fire fighter at age 20. It was 34 years ago last month when I joined the Fairfax County, Va., Fire and Rescue Department and it was one of the proudest moments in my life.

Although Virginia was (and still is) a notoriously anti-union state, I joined with six of my brother fire fighters in an intense campaign to organize a 600-member local in the department and I was elected to serve as the first president of Local 2068.

Several years later, I was elected president of the IAFF state association in Virginia, where we doubled the number of locals in the state in two years and won some major victories for our members despite the strong anti-union sentiment we faced at every turn.

My focus moved from the Virginia state capital to the nation's capital when IAFF President William "Howie" McClennan offered me the chance to come to the International to manage our Union's national legislative and political programs.

In 1988, I took over the day-to-day operations of the International and its departments as General President Whitehead's Executive Assistant.

Over the last two decades, I had the opportunity to work with three International presidents--Howie McClennan, Jack Gannon and Al Whitehead--as they led this union through good times and bad.

Many of the positions I will take as your general president and my vision for the future of our Union will be based on my experience as a fire fighter and a leader of our International.

I will continue to expand our legislative and political action programs at every level of government because they have gained us so much over the years.

The FLSA Overtime Law, the Public Safety Officers Benefit for family members of fallen fire fighters, and the two-in/two-out fire fighter safety regulation are just a few of the many benefits and protections that resulted directly from legislative involvement and political action.

As union fire fighters and paramedics, we have the ability to wield incredible influence in local, state, provincial and national elections and in the legislative process at every level, and I intend to make sure we use that power to the fullest.

I will encourage more IAFF members to run for public office in their communities and their state and provincial legislatures-- and our Union will assist their campaigns--to plant the seeds for more legislative victories in the future.

Our effort to win a National Collective Bargaining Law in Congress will also remain our number one priority until it becomes law. As a young local president, I was able to negotiate two contracts for my members before the Virginia Supreme Courts stripped away that right from us. I know what it is like to enjoy these important rights, and how hard it can be to try and protect your members' interests without them.

Tens of thousands of our brothers and sisters have no collective bargaining rights, and this union will use every bit of its political muscle to win such rights for all professional fire fighters and paramedics. We will not stop until we win, and I am confident we will win.

Every aspect of your health and safety will remain a top priority of this union. For example, we must deal with the tragedies in Philadelphia and other cities where our members are now finding out that they are stricken with Hepatitis C because some fire departments failed to provide proper safeguards.

We must make sure that our members receive the proper training to protect themselves from infectious diseases, we must also insure they receive the proper treatment if they are exposed to blood borne pathogens, and we must demand that they are treated fairly by their employers as it relates to their careers.

I plan to work to make the IAFF's education programs responsive to our affiliates' needs and available to our affiliates, not just those who can afford to attend our International educational seminars. By establishing a partnership between the International and our state and provincial associations we can reach more of our affiliates with our excellent educational programs.

In an effort to empower our affiliates, I am working to make information available to our Union leaders 24 hours a day, seven days a week through the Internet and other sources, so your leadership can get solid data whenever they need it to help you, not just when the IAFF's Washington and Ottawa offices are open for business.

I also recognize that affiliates in different regions of our two countries have different issues to contend with and that large and small locals often have different needs.

I am committed to making sure that all of our affiliates receive the services that they need to do their jobs for you and our brothers and sisters.

I will not do this alone. I will do it in partnership with General Secretary-Treasurer Vinnie Bollon and the IAFF Executive Board, along with the help and advice of our affiliate leadership across the United States and Canada.

We will function as a team and every one of you will have a stake in the outcome.

I have been chosen to lead our Union, but I fully recognize that the union belongs to you--our 240,000 brothers and sisters.

I will be a strong and aggressive leader on your behalf to protect your lives and your livelihood.

This is the beginning of an exciting and important journey--one we will take together.

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