8.62 for IAFF dues
	1.90 for PFFNC dues
	3.00 for insurance
	1.50 for NC AFL/CIO dues
	1.75 for bank draft fees

The amount left after these deductions is placed into an RPFFA bank account for use locally as the Association membership sees fit.  This may include buying smoke detectors for the needy, paying members' legal fees, publishing documents for presentation to the City Council, and the like.

What are the benefits of membership?

As a member of the RPFFA, you become a member of a brotherhood that is politically active both locally and nationally.  The RPFFA has access to mass amounts of information accumulated and compiled throughout the U.S. and Canada which can be drawn upon to aid in almost any situation.  Our members enjoy free life insurance in the amount of $10,000, $5,000 of which will come to your beneficiary within one business day upon the authority of the association president.  Members also have access to one of the best labor attorneys in this state as well as the nation at a much reduced rate and if it is a matter that affects our members at large or only affects one but has the potential to affect others, the RPFFA foots the bill.  The RPFFA and IAFF have been instrumental in securing a number of benefits for firefighters in the City of Raleigh.  Examples include the following:

	In the spring of 1998, the RPFFA in a simultaneous effort with the Raleigh Police Benevolent Association, petitioned the Raleigh City Council for a 20% increase in starting salaries for Raleigh Public Safety workers.  This action resulted in an increase in starting salaries of 20.2% over a two-year period.
	In 1985, after a joint effort by the National League of Cities, the National Association of Counties, and the U.S. Conference of Mayors to exempt professional firefighters from overtime pay, the IAFF lobbied extensively and was successful in requiring cities to give firefighters compensatory time or overtime pay during and uninterrupted Fair Labor Standards Act work week.  This results in additional pay of up to $74.00 per pay period for Raleigh Firefighters.
	In 1987, the IRS attempted to tax employee benefits such as sick days, and health and life insurance premiums paid by an employer.  This would have resulted in a tax of $20.00 per sick day and $20.00 per month for insurance premiums.  The IAFF joined other labor unions and convinced Congress to pass corrective legislation to prevent this IRS action.  The IAFF also led the charge to defeat an IRS attempt to take away the tax-exempt status of N.C. firefighter pensions.
	The IAFF was successful in getting the "Infectious Disease Notification Law" passed, which requires a receiving medical facility to notify emergency workers when they have been exposed to a patient carrying infectious diseases while providing emergency care in the field.  No one wants to carry a disease home to their family.