International Association of Firefighters
North America's largest labor union representing paid professional firefighters and emergency medical services personnel.
IAFF – About Us (Official Site)The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is a labor union founded in 1918 in Washington, D.C., representing paid full-time firefighters and emergency medical services personnel in the United States and Canada. It is affiliated with the AFL–CIO in the U.S. and the Canadian Labour Congress in Canada, with offices in Washington, D.C., and Ottawa, Ontario.
The IAFF represents over 365,000 members across more than 3,500 affiliate organizations, with its membership covering 85% of communities across the U.S. and Canada. Membership is limited to full-time paid professionals and is not open to volunteer firefighters. Its political action committee, FIREPAC, is among the top one-half of 1% of all federally registered PACs in the United States and has been noted as the most bipartisan PAC within organized labor over the last decade.
Beyond labor advocacy, the IAFF has been the largest national sponsor of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) since 1954, raising more than $650 million through initiatives such as the 'Fill the Boot' campaign. The IAFF also maintains a Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where an annual ceremony is held each September honoring more than 8,800 members who have died in the line of duty.
As a large, politically active union with deep community ties and significant charitable reach, the IAFF is highly relevant to innovations in firefighter safety, occupational health, emergency response technology, and labor relations in public safety sectors.