10th District Partnership Education Program

Media Strategies & Messaging (2 hours)
It is important for affiliate leaders to have a media strategy, which should be a part of the overarching public relations campaign. This workshop will address components of media strategy, including understanding why a local should have a media strategy; knowing the considerations when developing a media strategy; constructing appropriate messaging based on delivery type and source; and understanding the importance of building coalitions.

Crisis Communications (2 hours)
Effectively addressing a crisis requires organization and planning. This workshop will address how to plan and organize in the case of a crisis and how to communicate with the public and media when crisis occurs.

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.

Increasing Membership Participation (2 hours)
The strength of a local depends on the active involvement of its members. Whether it’s a committee meeting, political campaign or public relations effort, your members make the difference between success and failure. This workshop provides methods to increase member participation and build an effective union.

Disaster Relief: Assisting Members in Preparation & Recovery (2 hours)
When disasters strike, fire fighters are called to respond even while their own families may be displaced and their homes damaged or destroyed. Therefore, it is important that IAFF leaders be aware of several preparation and recovery tools in order to best protect their members in the event of a natural or manmade disaster. This workshop will detail how affiliate leaders can best prepare members and their families for a disaster by learning about proactive family and department plans, communication tools and disaster relief resources.

Fighting Performance/Service-Level Threats (2 hours)
Fire departments are being asked to do more with less. Many jurisdictions are hiring consultants to examine budgets and find ways to save money. Affiliate leaders need to understand how to be proactive if their jurisdiction hires a consultant. This workshop will provide affiliate leaders with an understanding of the possible negative impacts on staffing and performance/service levels. In addition, this workshop will address strategies and ways to combat potential negative recommendations.

Cancer Awareness: Tools for Affiliate Leaders (2 hours)
It has been clearly documented in multiple studies that fire fighters are more likely to develop a number of occupational cancers resulting from their exposure to toxic chemicals and carcinogens over the course of their employment. This workshop will review recent studies on the incidence of cancer in fire fighters and will guide affiliate leaders on the resources available to educate their members on exposure hazards, from fire scene contaminants and diesel exhaust, and the necessity of post-incident decontamination. This workshop will also review the tools necessary to affect personal commitment and organizational accountability to minimize the contraction of occupational cancers.

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.

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.

Building Coalitions (2 hours)
A coalition is a group of individuals or organizations that work together to achieve common goals and solve problems. A coalition can be formal or informal in structure depending on its purpose. Due to its size and scope, a coalition can accomplish significantly more than an individual organization. This workshop will teach you how to build coalitions and use them to achieve your goals.

Introduction to Political Action (2 hours)
Local government officials are ultimately responsible for making decisions that affect the wages and benefits of fire fighters. To secure the best working conditions for your members, it is essential that your local union becomes politically active to ensure that those candidates who support fire fighter issues are elected and remain in office. This workshop will give you an overview of the political process and teach you how to set up a political action plan that is most effective in achieving your goals.

Establishing and Maintaining a Political Action Committee (2 hours)
State and local officials — and state and local laws — affect your wages, benefits, labor laws and working environment. With a state and/or local political action committee (PAC), fire fighters can help support the campaigns of officials, candidates and ballot issues that represent their communities’ best interests. This workshop addresses not just the laws and regulations affecting state and local PACs, but also how to promote a PAC, raise funds and plan contributions.

Recruiting and Endorsing Candidates (2 hours)
For political candidates, the endorsement of fire fighters is the most coveted endorsement in campaigns today. The political action of an affiliate is what it takes to move fire service issues forward. In this workshop, you will learn how to select a candidate and campaign for political action, understand the endorsement process and create a local endorsement process.