At the 100th anniversary celebration of the National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) held last week, two distinguished NFFE-IAM members were recognized for their leadership and significant contributions to our union and the federal workforce over the course of their careers.
William “Bill” Dougan, former NFFE National President, was bestowed with the title “NFFE National President Emeritus” in recognition of his 30-plus years of dedicated service as an employee in the U.S. Forest Service, as a local and council leader, and as a national officer of NFFE. Dougan served as the Forest Service Council president for four years in the mid-2000s, served as NFFE National Secretary-Treasurer from 2007-2009, and finished his distinguished career by serving seven-plus years as NFFE National President.
John Paolino, former NFFE National Secretary-Treasurer, was awarded the NFFE Lifetime Achievement award for his 21 years of exemplary service to NFFE. Paolino, an air traffic controller by trade, began his career at NFFE as a field representative in the Midwest. Later, he served as Director of Collective Bargaining and Assistant Directing Business Representative. Paolino capped his stellar career with NFFE as National Secretary-Treasurer, a position he held for more than five years before retiring in April of 2007.
“It was a tremendous honor to present these awards to Bill Dougan and John Paolino, two NFFE leaders that gave their heart and soul every day to serving the members of this union,” said NFFE National President Randy Erwin. “Whether they know it or not, every NFFE-IAM member, and every federal employee in this country, owe these two men a debt of gratitude. They spent their careers making the lives of federal employees better. They also laid the foundation for NFFE to be the strong and growing union that it is today. It is appropriate, as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of NFFE’s founding, that we celebrate two leaders that played such instrumental roles in making sure we reached this historic landmark in our union’s history.”