DC Fire Fighter Going to Harvard
Monday, November 25, 2013(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Ed Smith is going Ivy League. The Fire Fighters Local 36 president has been
awarded an IAFF scholarship to attend the 2014 Harvard Trade Union Program, a
6-week program that runs from early January to mid-February. “I hope this
demonstrates my commitment to continue to learn and grow as a union leader,”
Smith told Union City. Organized by an interdisciplinary team of Harvard
faculty, the program’s curriculum is built around a set of core courses
supported by topical seminar series and other specially arranged programs. Core
courses include topics like “Strategic Planning for Unions,” “Leadership
and Organizational Change,” “Lessons from Labor History” and “Union
Governance.” Smith has worked for the DC Fire Department for 21 years, serving
in some of the city’s busiest companies, “starting at Engine 10 in Trinidad
in 1992, which has consistently been one of the nation’s busiest engines for
years,” Smith says. He’s currently the Captain of Rescue Squad 1 in
Chinatown, “a specialized rescue unit dealing with everything from high angle
rescues, water rescue, and hazardous materials.” The Harvard program also
offers seminar series and individual presentation of issues and problems facing
union leaders and the labor movement, enabling participants to exchange
perspectives and discuss strategies with some of the most talented and
innovative practitioners and analysts in a particular area.