11th District Conference

Understanding the Fair Labor Standards Act
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) is a U.S. federal law that establishes important minimum wage and overtime protections for IAFF members. Understanding how this complex law applies to fire fighters, EMTs and paramedics presents special challenges for affiliate leaders. In this workshop, the IAFF General Counsel’s Office will address FLSA exemptions and coverage issues, compensable hours of work, calculating the overtime rate, and compensatory time, among other topics.

Discipline: Your Rights and Responsibilities as Union Leaders
This workshop will provide union leaders with an overview of their rights and responsibilities during the employment disciplinary process. Union leaders will learn how to best represent their members in accordance with their contract, civil service laws, and the Weingarten, Loudermill and Garrity decisions. This workshop is applicable to affiliate leaders in both collective bargaining and non-collective bargaining environments.

Duty of Fair Representation
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.

Budgeting for Local Unions
Budgeting is an essential function for those who safeguard local union assets. In this workshop, you will learn the art of planning your local’s income and expenditures. Topics discussed will include preparing, adopting and amending your budget, as well as common income and expenditure categories that should be part of your plan.

Understanding Municipal Budgets
Involvement in your municipal budget process will help ensure that fire suppression, rescue and EMS delivery are top priorities in your community. This session provides an overview of the components of a municipal budget, as well as real-life case studies that demonstrate skills leaders need to succeed in this arena. Participants will learn that taking an active role in the budgeting process can reduce the fights over funds after the budget is passed. This is an opportunity for participants to learn how to create their future, not have it dictated to them.

Staffing for Safety: An Introduction
Fire suppression and emergency medical activities are labor-intensive jobs that require an adequate number of fire fighters on scene to safely and effectively protect property and save lives. Studies by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and updates to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1710 standards have shown that inadequate staffing can result in unnecessary loss of life and property and serious injury to fire fighters and the citizens they protect. In this workshop, you will be introduced to standards and studies that indicate best practices regarding staffing and that help you make decisions regarding staffing in your community.