August 13, 2008 -- IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger and International Association of Fire Chiefs President Steve Westermann signed a joint agreement yesterday at the 49th Convention to provide a framework to improve labor relations between fire fighters and the nation’s fire chiefs.

The new Labor Management Initiative (LMI) was developed by the IAFF and IAFC to recognize that labor and management have a mutual goal of ensuring the well-being and safety of fire fighters and paramedics.

“Our disagreements get a lot of attention, but the truth is that we agree with each other on 90 percent of issues,” Schaitberger said.
The Labor Management Initiative also states that labor and management must improve communications and training, and promote a relationship based on respect, trust and understanding. The LMI also calls for labor and management to find ways to identify problems and resolve disputes.

Westermann urged fire fighters and fire chiefs to work together so they can do their jobs more efficiently and more safely.

“It is right that we work together to break down the barriers. It is critical that we protect the protectors. We must stand united. We have to take collaboration to new levels,” said Westermann, fire chief of the Central Jackson County Fire Protection District in Missouri.

Together, IAFF and IAFC are fighting for laws to mandate use of residential sprinklers, Westermann said, and the two groups have achieved other gains by working together, including on disability benefits.

But there are major challenges still to be addressed, he said.

“There is a cloud, a red flag — the continuing increase in line-of-duty deaths,” Westermann said.

There were 118 line-of-duty deaths in 2007, Westermann said, and this year line-of-duty deaths could reach 130, based on current trends.
“We are going in the wrong direction,” he said.

Mandating seat-belt use on apparatus, Westermann said, would dramatically reduce line-of-duty deaths.