4th District Partnership Education Program

Negotiating the First Contract (4 hours)
A solid first contract forms the foundation for all subsequent agreements. A common mistake made when negotiating a first contract is to focus on the “nice to have” items, rather than the “must have” items. This workshop will focus on identifying must-have items, such as terms and conditions of employment, purpose and scope of the recognition clause, how to identify work rules, and the jurisdiction ordinances and statutes that need to be incorporated into specific contract language to protect the working conditions and benefits of our members. Additional topics covered in this workshop include how to prepare for negotiations, review of mandatory versus permissive subjects of bargaining and how to avoid common negotiation pitfalls.

Preparing for Negotiations: Collective Bargaining (2 hours)
The collective bargaining process allows you to negotiate for wages, benefits and other conditions of employment. To be successful at the bargaining table, you must thoroughly research and develop your strategy. In this workshop, you will learn how to set realistic goals for your membership and collect the data needed to support your case.

Conducting Negotiations: Collective Bargaining (2 hours)
Actively negotiating a contract is one of the most important functions IAFF affiliate leadership can perform for members and is the key ingredient in fire fighter–employer relations. In this workshop, you will learn how to create ground rules that benefit unions, participate in mock negotiation sessions and apply bargaining techniques.

Fundamentals of Costing Contract Proposals (2 hours)
Wages represent a significant portion of contract negotiations, but to successfully negotiate improvements to compensation, affiliate leaders must thoroughly understand their contracts and the true economic cost of their current agreements. Before presenting management with proposed improvements at the negotiation table, affiliate leaders need to have a firm grasp of how the improvements they seek will impact the totality of a contract’s costs. This workshop will introduce students to the key concepts required to conduct a successful contract-costing exercise and the fundamental processes of costing base salary, fringe benefits and proposed increases for a multi-year contract.

Advanced Skills for Negotiators (6 hours)
To get results at the bargaining table, a negotiator must be able to develop a bargaining strategy and master key negotiation skills. In this six-hour workshop, you will learn how to strengthen your bargaining position, determine an acceptable settlement range, respond to common management tactics and objections, make concessions and package your proposals. You will have opportunities to practice these skills and participate in mock negotiation sessions. This workshop is designed for experienced negotiators who wish to improve their skills at the bargaining table.

Social Media Legal Issues and Best Practices (2 hours)
While social media can be a powerful tool for positioning your local within the community and generating goodwill, it only takes one mistake or one bad apple to hurt your brand. Explore the social and legal issues pertaining to proper and improper use of social media, as well as the legal ramifications, limitations, and policies that can affect your members and your department.

Understanding Pregnancy and Parental Rights (2 hours)
Members who become parents face increased demands on their time and resources. Local leadership need to help ensure that the local employing agency complies with applicable federal, state/provincial and local laws, allowing these members the leave time and medical accommodation they need as they build their families. In addition, this workshop reviews how local leadership can advocate for family-friendly local policies and laws.

Duty of Fair Representation (2 hours)
As an affiliate leader, you may be subject to a legal standard, known as duty of fair representation (DFR) that governs how you represent your members in contract negotiations, grievances and other labor matters. In this workshop, you will study relevant case law to learn what is required of you, how the courts have applied this standard to unions, the consequences of violating the standard and best practices to avoid DFR lawsuits..

Overview of Employment Law (2 hours)
This workshop will provide you with an overview of the employment laws that affect fire fighters and emergency workers. You will learn how the courts define harassment and discrimination in the workplace and how to respond to members who believe their rights have been violated. This workshop will help you better serve the needs of your membership.

Ethics for Union Leaders (2 hours)
Most IAFF leaders are public employees and have fiduciary responsibilities to their membership. Due to the nature of your position, you are subject to higher ethical standards than the average member or employee. These standards must be upheld in order to maintain the trust of your members and run an effective local. Failure to do so can result in loss of credibility, loss of union position or even criminal charges. This workshop will cover the principles of ethics, the requirements of public employees and strategies of making ethical decisions. You will use these strategies to analyze scenarios and case studies.

How to Run a Meeting (2 hours)
The manner in which you run your union meetings will affect member attendance and how you are perceived as a leader. A well-run meeting with meaningful and timely agenda items will draw more attendees and help you earn the respect of your membership. In this workshop, you will learn IAFF meeting protocol and etiquette; how to plan for and conduct an efficient and productive meeting; and methods for handling conflict. This workshop is ideal for local union officers with limited experience running union meetings.

Internal Local Communications (2 hours)
The most important audience for our communications is our local union membership. Lack of communication within a union can seriously weaken unity in purpose and reduce the effectiveness of our efforts. This workshop shows how to move from fighting back challenges to taking charge of the message in communications to our membership.

Local Human Relations Committee: Getting Started (2 hours)
The IAFF recommends that every local establish a human relations committee. Establishing a committee is a proven way to help locals sort through the opportunities and challenges that diversity presents. It can assist locals in resolving conflict and developing a proactive strategy for change. In this workshop, affiliate leaders will learn about the benefits of having a local human relations committee and strategies for developing their own committee.

IAFF Resiliency Training (8 hours)
The IAFF Resiliency Training is an eight-hour, in-person training focused on building individual and organizational resilience in the fire service. Through a combination of self-assessment, didactic instruction, group discussion, and video, participants will learn essential factors that contribute to personal resiliency and gain practical stress management skills to be applied on and off the job.