May 4, 2023
The National Federation of Federal Employees (NFFE) is proud to announce that Steven Gutierrez, President of NFFE Local 1650, will serve as the new National Business Representative/Organizer (BR/Organizer) for NFFE Locals in the Western region of the United States.
On February 6, 2023, NFFE announced the vacancy for a BR/Organizer position and received many applications for the role. Over the past several weeks multiple candidates interviewed for the job. On April 28th, Gutierrez was offered the position, and he accepted.
“With Gutierrez’s leadership and accomplishments as a leader at Local 1650, I am very excited to see what he is going to be able to do for the members of this union,” said Randy Erwin, NFFE National President. “Steven has all the tools to be a successful BR/Organizer and brings a proven track record of strong representation and the ability to build membership. He also brings a real passion for the Labor Movement. I know Steven will be a force for positive change at NFFE Locals in the Western region and NFFE as a whole.”
Steven’s appointment to BR/Organizer comes on the heels of tremendous success at Local 1650 in recent years. Steven would be the first to tell you it was a team effort, but the positive turnaround at Local 1650 has been staggering. In June of 2021, the Local had just 15 members. However, in the last couple years, the Local has grown to grown to 273 members, making Local 1650 our union’s fastest growing Local throughout the United States and the most successful Local in NFFE’s 2022 Organizing Donation Program. In addition, Local 1650 recently added employees from the Cleveland National Forest to its bargaining unit, including 110 new dues-paying NFFE-IAM members.
Gutierrez will begin his assignment as BR/Organizer on May 22nd. He will have the benefit of being mentored by current BR/Organizer of the Western region, Max Alonzo. Max will spend a good portion of the next several weeks working with Steven and introducing him to NFFE Locals throughout the Western United States. In order to improve the efficiency of NFFE representation nationwide, the NFFE BR/Organizer territories are undergoing a process of redistricting. This process is still ongoing and NFFE will provide updates as they become available.
“This opportunity to serve as a BR/Organizer will allow me to dramatically affect the future of our union and to help federal employees in the greatest way possible,” said Gutierrez. “The growth our union has had in the past year gives people hope that this union is stronger than ever. The biggest thing I would love to accomplish is to create significant change in our Labor Movement and to further build upon the tremendous momentum our union is currently experiencing.”