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A message from our 16th District Vice President
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JAMES B. JOHNSON
16TH DISTRICT VICE PRESIDENT
In accordance with the provisions of Article VI, Section 3, of the International Association of Fire Fighters Constitution and By-Laws, I respectfully submit this report to the membership.
As the Vice President of the 16th District, I have attended Executive Board meetings, conferences and other IAFF functions as required. I am presently serving on the following IAFF Executive Board Committees: Government and Political Affairs, Scholarship, Education and Training and Information and Technology.
I have focused on improving our communication, educating our leadership, lobbying for the IAFF’s legislative agenda and providing advice and technical assistance to our federal affiliates. The last two years have presented many challenges for the 16th District. Nonetheless, we have accepted the challenges, and as a team we continue to move the District in a positive direction with purpose and conviction.
Our District Field Service Representative and our Service Representatives within the District will continue to provide onsite assistance and training for our affiliate leaders as we continue to move toward the goal of empowering leaders with the tools they need to represent their members. In continuing to address training needs, we have continued the IAFF training for the federal sector. We have now developed a new training presentation for 2010 that we will be using from this point forward that will provide additional knowledge for our affiliate leaders in the years to come.
Recently, we have seen our efforts come to fruition in our attempts to block the draconian measures of the National Security Personnel System (NSPS).Working with 34 other labor organizations; the District took a leadership role in addressing concerns about the NSPS assault on collective bargaining. Our efforts through the courts and congressional legislation successfully preserved collective bargaining for federal fire fighters. Knowing, however, that NSPS was still a threat just by means of existence, we continued to push for a complete repeal, which Congress passed in the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). Diligence is needed, however, as Congress also allowed the Department of Defense (DoD) to continue to explore avenues for revising current pay systems and performance measures in the same legislation that repealed NSPS.
The IAFF also worked on supporting revisions to federal sick leave rules, and language was included in the 2010 NDAA that allows retiring Federal Employee Retirement System employees to sell their unused sick leave back to the employer in a manner similar to way Civil Service Retirement System employees could. We have also used both administrative and legislative angles to successfully lift the inadequate funding cap on uniform allowances for federal fire fighters, so that they can be adequately reimbursed for uniform purchases. We successfully lobbied the Office of Personnel Management for the creation of an initial uniform allowance for new fire fighters which is now being applied at many locations.
We will continue to educate Congress on the importance of passing the federal presumptive issue, which was reintroduced in the 111th Congress. The 111th Congress has also introduced several important pieces of legislation that can benefit federal members. This includes correcting retirement calculations, establishing fair parameters for trade time agreements and eliminating the 10 percent tax penalty for TSP withdraws. Now we have a great task ahead of us to garner additional support within Congress so we can get these important issues passed and signed into law.
While it is obvious that our District is constantly confronted with perilous attacks from unscrupulous political fronts, it is clear that the IAFF remains ready and willing to protect the interests of the federal fire fighters in the 16th District. Since the last Convention, we have successfully thwarted several attempts to repeal the contracting prohibition that protects the jobs of federal fire fighters working for the Department of Defense and we will continue to do all we can to continue to protect the jobs of IAFF members.
Overall, the past two years has brought many changes and produced successes and some setbacks. Having served for many years on the job as a federal fire fighter, I know that every tangible benefit received is the result of a hard fought battle. Because of the District members’ support, the IAFF and the 16th District have become a respected voice in the federal employment arena. Much of the credit for this and other successes we have achieved should also be given to the many leaders in the District who eagerly sacrifice their time and effort for the members of their locals and the entire District. In addition, the support we have received from General President Schaitberger, retired General Secretary-Treasurer Bollon, General Secretary-Treasurer Miller and the IAFF staff has been tremendous. It has been an honor for me to be your representative and to serve on the Executive Board of this great International as your 16th District Vice President. The experience is rewarding and educational, and I look forward to continuing to serve the District.
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