From the Firehouse to the AFL-CIO: A Union Journey

I became a union member for the first time at 21 years old, joining AFSCME as a part-time firefighter.

I served as a Trustee of our local, where we secured wages and conditions far better than other part-time firefighters in the area. It made our jobs competitive and kept the level of professionalism higher than in non-union firehouses.

When I later became a career firefighter and joined the IAFF, I quickly saw that the contract wasn’t working for the younger members. So, I ran for Secretary-Treasurer and joined the bargaining committee. In our first negotiation, we won internal equity—ensuring every member received the same paramedic pay. From there, I pushed for better equipment and safety standards, and we began taking real steps to reduce our risk of occupational cancer. That’s when I found my voice as a union advocate.

Through collective action, we improved not just our safety on the job but also the quality of emergency medical response we delivered to residents. We fought through tough economic times, pushing back against staffing reductions and merger threats, while still bargaining for fair wages and bonuses.

My union work eventually led me into lobbying at the state level, where I learned how to navigate politics and policy—lessons that paved the way for my career at the AFL-CIO. But it all started in the firehouse, where I learned what it means to fight for your coworkers, to stand up for what’s right, and to never back down.

Without that union contract, none of it would have been possible. I’m 35 now, and thanks to my union at the firehouse and the AFL-CIO, I’ve never paid a dime out of my paycheck for health insurance. I've never had to worry about how to pay a bill and we've gotten to travel, now as a family of 4. And I'm instilling in my daughters a sense of dignity for work, and I know they'll fight like I have. The union is everything to me and my family and when I die, I want it to be with a union card in my back pocket.