PEP Online – July 2025

Preparing for Negotiations: Collective Bargaining
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
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 learn how to apply bargaining techniques.

IAFF Union Leadership: Self-Awareness
What kind of leader am I and what kind of leader do I want to be? This workshop will help IAFF affiliate leaders learn what kind of union leaders they are and will provide them with several tools to become more effective leaders. During this workshop, participants will identify their own leadership styles and will learn how those styles are perceived by and impact the members that they lead.

IAFF Union Leadership: Leading Organizational Change
How Can I Help Our Union Become More Effective? This workshop will provide tools to help affiliate leaders become more effective as IAFF Locals continue to evolve to meet the serious challenges facing our union and our members in the 21st century. During the workshop, participants will learn how to assess and prioritize union resources and how to engage in strategic planning to establish and achieve effective organizational goals.

Frontline Union Representative Basics
This workshop addresses the knowledge and skills involved in effectively enforcing contract provisions and representing workers’ rights with your fire service management and jurisdiction. It will introduce and explore the issues and best practices involved in handling grievances, enforcing contract language, and handling discipline issues. Additionally, this workshop reviews ways that key union personnel can inform membership on the benefits of union membership and active involvement.

Local Union Administration
Designed to help affiliate leaders achieve goals for their locals, this course teaches the skills necessary to be effective in any role as a union officer. Information is provided on the duties of each local union officer, as well as the responsibilities of the executive board and other committees in the local. It will also acquaint participants with the various services and assistance available from the IAFF.