NFFE-IAM Sisters and Brothers,

As part of NFFE’s ongoing effort to build membership, NFFE is introducing its 2022 NFFE Local Organizing and Recruitment Donation Program. This program is largely unchanged from the 2021 program. This program represents just one facet of NFFE’s overall organizing and recruitment strategic plan. This program allows NFFE Local Lodges that formulate an organizing and recruitment plan, then achieve net growth in membership, to receive an organizing and recruitment donation from NFFE National. Local Lodges that opt in would be eligible to receive $80 for each net new member added to the Local Lodge (i.e. a Local that grows from 100 members to 110 members would be eligible for a $800 organizing and recruitment donation). This $80 is above and beyond the $20 that NFFE National pays Locals for each new member that is initiated. Payments for initiations were authorized by NFFE’s National Executive Council at the start of 2018 and will continue throughout 2022. Local Lodges must meet other criteria to be eligible for the organizing and recruitment donation program. See attached program rules for specifics.

I am very pleased and excited to be rolling out the 2022 NFFE Local Organizing and Recruitment Donation Program, a key component of NFFE’s organizing strategic plan. Thankfully, it seems like the long shadow that COVID has cast on our lives, both at home and at work, is starting to fade, and every day we are moving towards something closer to normal. 2022, like 2021, is poised to be another year of growth at NFFE, both back to and beyond the levels we saw pre-pandemic. I am excited to make this year’s Organizing Donation Program a key facet of how we continue to grow.

While we are entering a new phase of our organizing plan, please know there is still more to come, and we will be relying on NFFE leaders from across the country for ideas about what NFFE should do next to help build membership and grow a stronger, more effective union. If you have ideas that you would like to be considered, please email them to newmember@nffe.org. We cannot promise to implement every idea that is submitted, but we will give every submission consideration and will adopt as many ideas as possible.

Why are we embarking on this effort to build membership? Simply put: Our strength is in our numbers. We must grow our dues-paying membership in order to confront the immense challenges that the federal workforce and our union are sure to face in the years ahead. The attacks on federal workers and unions are never-ending, and we must organize and grow to win these fights that will have major consequences on our families, our workplaces, and our communities. Membership growth is also the key to proactive changes we want to achieve that will actually make NFFE-IAM members’ lives better.

For a number of years, one organizing tool that many within our union had been calling for was a financial award for Local Lodges that achieve organizing success. In 2016, NFFE’s National Executive Council heard that message and authorized the establishment of the 2017 NFFE Local Organizing and Recruitment Donation Program. The 2017 program was a tremendous success – NFFE had its best organizing year in twenty years, in large part to the success of the 2017 donation program. The program was reauthorized for 2018, 2019, and 2020, and it has continued to be a great success for our union. In calendar years 2017 – 2019, NFFE achieved 9.3% net growth, making NFFE one of the fastest growing unions in America.

Here is how the 2022 NFFE Local Organizing and Recruitment Donation Program will work:  NFFE Local Lodges that formulate an organizing and recruitment plan, and then achieve net growth in membership, will receive an organizing and recruitment donation from NFFE National. Local Lodges that opt in (opting in is a requirement) are eligible to receive $80 for each net new member added to the Local Lodge (i.e. a Local Lodge that grows from 100 members to 110 members would be eligible for a $800 organizing and recruitment donation.) Membership gains will be calculated by taking the difference between Local Lodge membership for the last pay period in October of 2022 and the last pay period in October of 2021. Local Lodges must meet other criteria to be eligible for the organizing and recruitment donation. See attached program rules for specifics.

Please note that starting in 2018, NFFE National has been paying eligible Local Lodges $20 for each new member that is signed up and initiated. These payments are separate from, and in addition to what a Local Lodge might earn through the donation program. “Initiation” is when a new member is entered into the IAMAW membership system. It is prompted by dues being deducted from a new member and a record of that appearing on a report that comes to NFFE from the agency.

Our goal is to increase the number of NFFE Local Lodges opting into the program and use it to achieve growth in 2022. If NFFE determines that the program achieved the intended effect of growing membership this year, NFFE’s NEC will consider renewing the program again for 2023.

Please work with your NFFE National Business Representative to develop and implement a tailored organizing and recruitment plan for your Local Lodge. In most instances your NFFE National Business Representative will be the person certifying that your Local Lodge has an organizing and recruitment plan, a committee in place, and a numerical membership goal. These are requirements to be eligible for the program.

Please contact NFFE National at 202-216-4420 if you need contact information for your National Business Representative. If you have any questions relating to NFFE’s membership building strategic plan, please contact NFFE National Organizing Director Ethan West at ewest@nffe.org.

Brothers and Sisters, thank you for being leaders in this great union! Please make a commitment to help build our membership. Our collective destiny depends on it. Please, start today. Together, we will grow and do things nobody ever thought was possible!

In Solidarity,                                

Randy L. Erwin
NFFE National President