Constitution and By-Laws
All IAFF affiliates must maintain an up-to-date copy of their constitution and by-laws, make it available to their members, and submit any changes to the General President for approval as required by the IAFF Constitution and By-Laws.
Rules of Parliamentary Procedure
Pursuant to Article IV, Section 11 of the IAFF Constitution and By-Laws, local, state, and provincial affiliates may choose to adopt either the most recent edition of Robert’s Rules of Order or Atwood’s Rules for Meetings to govern their deliberations. The International’s Executive Board and the IAFF Convention are governed by Robert’s Rules of Order.
Robert’s Rules of Order can be purchased at most bookstores. A valid choice would be the 2nd Edition by Mary A. De Vries.
Atwood’s Rules for Meetings is published by the International Association of Fire Fighters with permission from the late Dr. Roswell L. Atwood, who served the IAFF for twenty years as a consultant, parliamentarian, and director of education and research. The electronic version of Atwood’s Rules for Meetings posted on the IAFF website is for the exclusive use and benefit of IAFF affiliates and members and is not to be disseminated to unaffiliated parties. Please do not distribute copies of these rules outside the IAFF.
Affiliate officers may contact the Legal Department for a copy of their Constitution and By-laws on file with the IAFF.
Submission of Local Constitution & By-Laws
Pursuant to Revised Resolution No.7 adopted at the 2010 IAFF Convention, all affiliates are required to submit a current copy of their respective constitution and by-laws in a searchable electronic format before February 1, 2011, and every four years thereafter. Affiliates can email their constitution and by-laws to the General Secretary-Treasurer’s office by email: [email protected]. Please indicate in your email if you have made changes to your constitution and by-laws that have not yet been approved by the General President.
Federal Reporting Obligations for Affiliates
Department of Labor Regulations and Required Forms
Most locals under the IAFF are made up entirely of public sector employees and are not subject to the Department of Labor’s enforcement of the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA). However, local unions with private sector employees (even if just one), and even local unions who seek to organize private sector employees (even if just one!) are subject to coverage under the LMRDA. To a reduced extent, the IAFF’s federal locals are also subject the LMRDA regulations. State associations whose member affiliates include one of these two groups of covered local unions are themselves covered by the LMRDA.
If your local/state association is one of these kinds of covered unions, you should be familiar with the following reporting obligations:
- All covered associations are required to adopt a constitution and bylaws and file two copies together with an initial Form LM-1. 29 C.F.R. 402, et seq.
- A Form LM-1A must be submitted whenever there are any changes to the Local’s Constitution and By-Laws or any procedures. (Note: Federal locals are not required to submit Form LM-1A to describe changes in their practices and procedures. See Instructions for Form LM-1: Labor Organization Information Report.)
- Except for federal locals, every officer, employee, agent, and shop steward of a labor organization must file a Form LM-30 that lists any extraordinary financial dealings with the employer of the local’s members (this excludes salary). 29 C.F.R. 404, et seq.; See also, 29 C.F.R. 458.3. LM-30s are a personal reporting obligation, not a reporting obligation of the association. If an officer, employee, agent, or shop steward has nothing to report, then an LM-30 need not be filed.
Department of Labor Reports
Under the LMRDA, all of the covered unions described above must file annual financial reports (Form LM-2, LM-3, or LM-4) with the Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) within 90 days from the close of their fiscal year. 29 C.F.R. 403, et. seq.
Those federal and industrial locals with annual receipts under $10,000 must file Form LM-4 and those with receipts between $10,000 and $249,999 must file Form LM-3. Those unions with receipts of $250,000 and over must file Form LM-2.
As you can see from the discussion above, unions which only represent, and only seek to represent, state, county, and municipal employees are not required to file the LM reports.