Five members of the Rockingham Fire Department recently enlisted in an AFL-CIO labor union called the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF).

IAFF Field Representative David Anders explained the purpose of the organization.

“It’s to allow the firefighters to speak with one voice,” Anders said.

He explained the union has over 3,000 affiliates across the country, including nearly 40 in North Carolina, with each chapter having a spokesman and determining their own policies through a vote.

He confirmed there are five members comprising the Local Chapter 4702, Rockingham Fire Department Chapter, with Robert Barber serving as the group’s spokesman.

Barber verified this information, but declined to comment any further at this time.

Rockingham City Manager Monty Crump said state law currently prohibits local governments from negotiating with workers through a labor union.

“The prevailing law in the state of North Carolina is it is an ‘employment-at-will’ state,” he said. “Collective bargaining is prohibited.”

He explained it is illegal in the state of North Carolina for employees of the state to strike, instead employees are hired and fired by personnel decisions made by local elected officials - county commissioners, city councilmen and mayors.

Anders also stated collective bargaining is outlawed among state and local government employees, and that this is not the purpose of the group.

“There’s always power in being in sync and speaking with one voice with local fire fighters,” Anders said. “It keeps things from being scattered, such as if someone asks a question, someone can say, ‘That’s only one person asking this question,’ but if you represent all the employees of a department when you ask the question, that tends to carry more weight.”

Anders said he was in an airport in Washington, D.C. as he spoke, where the IAFF has been lobbying for a comprehensive study of the safety requirements and practices of every fire department in the country.

“We would like for Homeland Security to do this survey, or this study, and they then would come before Congress with recommendations for safety regulations,” he said.