The Mount Laurel Professional Fire Fighters Association, IAFF Local 4408, is a professional organization that represents all of the full-time paid firefighters, fire officers, and support staff of the Mount Laurel Fire Department. Our local union was chartered in December of 2004 after nearly 19 years of affiliation with the Burlington County Professional Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 3091. As a result of the rapid growth of our fire department, a decision was made to separate from the county local to form our own local under the IAFF. As a result of this successful transition, we are now able to better serve our membership and the community we serve.
Our mission is simple... to serve as the sole bargaining agent representing the career Firefighters, Fire Officers, and Support Staff of the Mount Laurel Township Fire Department. Our goal is to promote a harmonious and progressive work environment between management and the employees in order to better serve the citizens of Mount Laurel Township whom we have been sworn to protect.
What is the IAFF? The International Association of Fire Fighters, headquartered in Washington, DC, represents more than 280,000 fire fighters and emergency medical personnel, who protect 85 percent of the nation's population. The IAFF includes more than 3,100 locals in more than 3,500 communities in the United States and Canada. In addition to city and county fire fighters and emergency medical personnel, IAFF members include state employees, federal workers and fire and emergency medical personnel employed at certain industrial facilities. The IAFF is the driving force behind nearly every advance in the fire and emergency services in the 20th century from the introduction of shift schedules early in the last century to the enactment of SAFER in 2003. With extremely active political and legislative programs, and with recognized experts in the fields of occupational health and safety, fire-based emergency medical services and hazardous materials training, the IAFF has established professional standards for the North American fire service.
Today, the IAFF is the primary advocate for providing fire fighters and paramedics with the tools they need to perform their jobs. The IAFF provides a strong voice in the development and implementation of new training and equipment, and has worked hard to ensure the proper staffing of fire and EMS departments. The IAFF is a member driven organization for fire fighters, by fire fighters. [Information and statistics for this article were obtained from the International Association of Fire Fighters website
http://www.iaff.org/]
