1 / 28

Union Leadership for the Next Generation

Union Leadership for the Next Generation. Kurt Becker IAFF 2 nd Dist. Field Service Rep since 2008 IAFF Local 2665 Vice President since 2004 Fire Fighter / Paramedic with the Clayton Fire Department 15 yrs. as a Fire Fighter and 20 yrs. in EMS. Are we Good Enough?.

gari
Download Presentation

Union Leadership for the Next Generation

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Union Leadership for the Next Generation Kurt Becker IAFF 2nd Dist. Field Service Rep since 2008 IAFF Local 2665 Vice President since 2004 Fire Fighter/Paramedic with the Clayton Fire Department 15 yrs. as a Fire Fighter and 20 yrs. in EMS

  2. Are we Good Enough? • Do our members show up at… • Union Meetings? • Political Events like polls on election day or candidate lit drops? • Charitable Events like MDA or Breast Cancer Awareness? • Committee meetings?

  3. Are we Good Enough? • Do Our Elected Officials… • Understand our Job? • Support our efforts to improve • Safety? • Compensation? • Retirement Benefits? • Staffing? • Wake up each day and ask, “What can I do for our Fire Fighters?”

  4. Are we Good Enough? • Does Our Administration… • Include us in decision making? • Genuinely value the perspectives of Labor? • Believe that “our department” and “our Local” are the same things and what’s good for one is good for the other? • Seek our input regularly and “buy into” the Labor-Management process?

  5. Are we Good Enough? • Does Our Local… • Seek ways to engage younger and older members, as well as members with diverse interests? • Have a secession plan? • Have an active political action committee? • Have an active public relations committee? • Have and active health and safety committee?

  6. Are we Good Enough? • Do Our Union Leaders… • Meet regularly with our Administration? • Meet regularly with Elected Officials? • Interact with the State Council/Association? • Interact with the IAFF through their DVP? • Communicate regularly and effectively with our members?

  7. Are we Good Enough? • Do Our Union Leaders… • Know the History of our Union, our Local, and our Department? • Take advantage of the programs, information, and services offered by the IAFF and State Associations? • Recognize the significance of our position as Union Officers? • Respect our senior members enough to learn from them and trust our junior members enough to empower them?

  8. Union Leadership for the Next Generation If we answered “Yes” to some or many of these questions, then we have a problem and the answer to “Are we good enough?” is……

  9. Union Leadership for the Next Generation “HELL NO!!!”

  10. Union Leadership for the Next Generation As an industry we have a common problem. Just like any problem, we will solve it by… • First, agreeing that a problem exists; • Second, agreeing on a desired outcome; • Finally, coming up with a plan to get from Point A to Point B.

  11. Union Leadership for the Next Generation What is this thing we call the IAFF? • Stickers? T-Shirts? Never ending dues increases? If that is what our members think… • That’s our fault • It’s our job to change that

  12. Union Leadership for the Next Generation “Why We Fight For You”

  13. Union Leadership for the Next Generation The single most important factor in our individual and collective successes or failures as a Union is not the economy, which political party is in power, or the disposition of our employer…rather, it is our ability as Union Officers to display the leadership necessary to shepherd our members through rough times and capitalize during prosperous times.

  14. Union Leadership… What defines a strong Union Leader? • Historically? • Iron Fisted • Obstructionist • Unbending • Thuggery • Mr. T Starter Kit

  15. UnionLeadership… What defines a strong Union Leader? • Contemporary times? • Smart • Dynamic • Outside the Box • View Our Union as a Business • Motivated and able to Motivate

  16. Union Leadership… What are we doing to develop leaders? • Classes and Symposiums • On the Job Training? • Delegate Responsibility • Recognize Success • Address Shortcomings • Mentor • Integrate Union Leadership into Departmental Promotional Processes

  17. Union Leadership… Successful contemporary Union Leaders must possess the wisdom and courage to identify and address the shortcomings of those entities working against us…as importantly, however, they must apply that same wisdom and courage to identify and address the shortcomings of the members they represent.

  18. Union Leadership… What are our Union’s and our Member’s Shortcomings? • Entitled • Impatient • Selfish • Shortsighted

  19. UnionLeadership… We are our own worst enemy and to a large extent, we have Bought our Own Bullshit…our efforts to communicate to the public the essential nature of profession and the heroism of our members has not been offset by internal messaging to our constituents that they truly have a great job and that the quality of that job is directly related to the strength of this union.

  20. Union Leadership… Administratively many IAFF Leaders spend 90% of their disciplinary time dealing with problems created by less than 10% of their members… • Expend political capital • Create internal animus • Diminishes our credibility

  21. Union Leadership… According to the U.S. Census Bureau, "household median income" is defined as "the amount which divides the income distribution into two equal groups, half having income above that amount, and half having income below that amount."

  22. 2011 Median Household Income in the U.S. In 2011 the Census Bureau accounted for 121,084,000 households in the United States of America. The Median Household Income, adjusted for inflation, was $50,054

  23. Household Income Distribution… According to the 2010 U.S. Census… • 70% of U.S. Households earn less than $80,000 per year; • 80% of U.S. Households earn less than $100,000 per year; • 90% of U.S. Households earn less than $140,000 per year; • 95% of U.S. Households earn less than $180,000 per year

  24. Fire Fighter Prerequisites • Valid Driver License • High School Diploma • Roughly the equivalent of 2-4 years of college level training for EMS and Fire skills • Training can be obtained, often on the job at the employers expense, or at a local community college

  25. Real World Prerequisites To provide for your family at the 70% ($80,000) level, you must have… • Bachelors Degree at a minimum • Often a Masters or Advanced Degree • Few positions come with a DB Pension • Many pay much, if not all of the cost of health care

  26. Union Leadership for the Next Generation… Pulling it all together, if we are to succeed, we must… • Be brutally honest with ourselves • Focus as much time and effort on addressing our own shortcomings as we do those of our enemies • Realize the significance and importance of the offices our members elected us to hold

  27. Union Leadership for the Next Generation… The single most important thing a young Union Leader can say to his predecessors is simply, “Thank you for what you have built.” The single most important thing a senior Union Leader can say to his successors is, “I trust that you will leave it better than you found it”

  28. Thank You! Please feel free to email me or find me on Facebook at Kurt.Becker@iaff2665.org Follow me on Twitter @becker_kurt Or text or call 314.393.9760

More Related