Firefighter Politics-IAFF Becomes Major Political Force

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From Newsday-March 21st, 2004

FIREFIGHTERS' POLITICS 

Union asserts kingmaker role

Flexing its muscle to pare volunteer corps and aligning its agenda with presidential candidates is its aim

BY THOMAS FRANK

WASHINGTON BUREAU

March 26, 2004

WASHINGTON - Each year, members of a group called the National Fire Protection Association convene for their World Safety Conference & Exposition. They attend seminars on elevator issues, sprinkler system maintenance and the evolution of fire safety in China.

Dramatic it is not.

 

But three years ago, the conference became the stage for a stunning power play by an increasingly potent political force: the firefighters' union.

The scene was the Anaheim Convention Center in California. The nonprofit association, which publishes fire safety guidelines, was to vote on a standard calling for four firefighters to staff every fire truck at paid fire departments in North America. With most fire trucks operated by three or fewer firefighters - unsafely, some say - tens of thousands of new firefighters would be needed.

The International Association of Fire Fighters paid $1 million in travel and fees to pack the conference with 2,500 members whocrushed attempts by municipal officials to block a standard they said would cost billions.

The union leaders "were ingenious," said Bernard Burk, a San Francisco attorney who fought the standard for a group of 245 municipal organizations and cities. "They are extraordinarily politically adept people."

Emerging political force

Now, with unprecedented public support after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and momentum from its early backing of Democrat Sen. John Kerry for president, the union has moved to the forefront of national politics.

Union president Harold Schaitberger recently was named Kerry's campaign co-chairman and vice chairman of a new AFL-CIO committee to coordinate labor's political strategy. David Billy, the union's political director, moved to the Kerry campaign as a deputy political director for labor.

"They've become a very important player in the political system," said David Bonior, a former House Democratic leader with strong ties to labor.

The union's role is likely to grow in a presidential election that focuses on domestic security, and with that, its influence.

Schaitberger gained national attention two weeks ago when he denounced President George W. Bush's televised ads that use images of firefighters.

For Kerry, firefighters are the stage piece to convey an image of strength. "They are the pre-eminent symbol of homeland security in the post-9/11 world, and having a group of firefighters stand up with John Kerry everywhere he goes really helps drive that message home," said Steve Elmendorf, Kerry's deputy campaign manager.

Yet the union's close ties to Kerry alarm some municipal officials and volunteer firefighters. They fear that if Kerry becomes president, the union would win new laws enabling it to expand at a cost to taxpayers and volunteer departments.

"They're going to play a role in his administration, and the impact on local governments could be monstrous," said Gerard Hoetmer, executive director of the Public Entity Risk Institute, which advises local governments on liability issues.

"Just think about what the union wants and put a mandate around it," Hoetmer said, envisioning the staffing guidelines becoming a federal regulation.

Volunteers worried

Volunteer firefighters have clashed with the International Association of Fire Fighters and fear that an emboldened union may more aggressively try to convert volunteer districts to paid departments.

"They're trying to push the volunteers out of business," said Angelo Catalano, a North Bellmore fire commissioner and official on the Association of Fire Districts of New York.

The firefighters' association in late 2000 declared some volunteer departments "rival organizations" and has a bylaw against members volunteering as firefighters, where they potentially provide free labor.

Enforcement is up to local chapters, and while many New York City firefighters volunteer on Long Island with impunity, the main city firefighters' union is planning to vote next month on a measure to censure union members who volunteer in departments such as Long Beach and Garden City that have both paid and volunteer firefighters.

"It's kind of like being a scab," said firefighter Dean Stephan, a union representative in Jackson Heights who proposed the measure.

Some members of the firefighters' association continue volunteering. But last year, Hartford firefighters signaled a potential trend when the union signed a contract that bans them from volunteering starting in 2008.

The provision makes some of the nation's 816,000 volunteers wary of the association's top priority: a federal law to allow all paid firefighters and police to unionize. About 20 states, mostly in the South and West, bar public safety unions. Municipal organizations strongly oppose the union measure, citing potential costs. Volunteer organizations worry it will make their survival difficult.

Schaitberger, the union leader, said about 90,000 of the nation's 291,000 paid firefighters cannot negotiate as part of a union. "It's a shameful statistic," he told 850 union members last week at a conference in Washington and vowed to press for union rights. "We will not rest until it's the law of the land."

Lobbyists with clout

While that is unlikely to happen with Bush in the White House and conservative Republicans controlling the House, Kerry is co-sponsoring the unionization bill.

"If this were a top priority for the Kerry administration, this would be among the things they could accomplish," a labor official said. "It's a pretty discrete thing, easy to trade for."

The IAFF has shown increasing political savvy, particularly after 343 firefighters were killed in the World Trade Center.

Just two days later, the unionization bill was passed by a committee in the Democratic-controlled Senate. It was defeated later on the Senate floor.

On Sept. 15, 2001, the union hired a lobbyist to work on the unionization bill. Schaitberger said the hiring had been in the works before Sept. 11.

In October 2001, a law was enacted increasing federal death benefits to firefighters from $100,000 to $250,000. Schaitberger testified on Capitol Hill about the need for 75,000 new firefighters to meet the staffing standard he had won months earlier.

A bill was introduced to provide nearly $8 billion for communities to hire the 75,000 firefighters. It became law in November, but Bush allocated no money for the program in his proposed 2005 budget, rendering it useless unless Congress approves funds.

"You cannot use the images of firefighters and have them implicitly embracing you when you have failed them for the last 21/2 years," Schaitberger said.

Bush campaign spokesman Scott Stanzel, citing $13 billion in funding for emergency personnel under Bush, said many firefighters are supporting him despite the union, which has endorsed every Democratic presidential candidate since it began endorsing in 1976.

The union's call for more firefighters comes even as the number of fires drops steadily - from 3 million in 1980 to 1.7 million in 2002 - and firefighter injuries and fatalities are down.

[hudson144 150]

this is a big topic among thousands of union firefighters,in fact a large amount of fdny firefighters/officers are leading a charge for a "firefighters for bush campaign"go to firefighters for bush.com. I know that according to many,alot of firefighters are for president bush. like a few members stated,who asked me if i was for bush or kerry. being pro union I still vote for I feel will be best for our nation, being a former military member I back our president 100%. Even on my job here in westchester I have been asking members of my job who they support and alot of them are not for kerry. I do feel that the IAFF has some goals for the career firrefighters and I am all for them but I also wonder what goals Mr Shaitberger has for himself? we have seen it here within the fdny/westchester area of some union leaders leading the charge for union,union,union-and before you know it they are serving as a commish. in the dept that that represented as union leaders. from reading some info that i have access to,Mr shaitberger isn't to well respected from his former fd>(fairfax county) boys,its all politics! I am not into politics that much but I do see things that stick out like a sore thumb!

[Guest RBFD2]

Well said Hudson.

[Guest alsfirefighter]

Ditto here Hudson. I know where I feed my family from, and the many problems associated with it. But I have to go with the guy whom has the majority of the same views I do.

[Remember585 815]

Regardless if we're paid or volunteer, we should always carry ourselves in a professional manner. The concept is far-fetched for many on both sides of the fence, and its a damn shame.

I have seen in the news that many Departments nationwide (career/volunteer) are under investigation for making false claims to receive FIRE Act money. [-X Shame on you all.

What's professional about that? NOTHING. It's a disgrace to our culture, and it can and, unfortunaly, will ruin things in the future of the fire service.

If we as a service dishonor ourselves, we are eliminating that professional courtesy we have been so generously extended thanks to the Bush Administration. I think as a whole, the volunteer and career fire departments in this country should "pat the Prez on the back," because in my eyes, he's the first of over 40 men in his position to pay us our dues. =D> =D> =D>

Furthermore, I think it is in poor taste of the IAFF bosses to cutoff their members from volunteering their services. There isn't a single VOLUNTEER firefighter who has never learned anything in their firehouse from one of their own whom also does it for a living. I don't know the exact number, but I'm not afraid to say thousands of FDNY members have basically molded the fire service in NY - whether directly or indirectly. Their experiences and research have made for safer and more efficient operations statewide, if not nationwide. If these guys and gals were told to stop volunteering, we would lose an invaluable asset to our "knowledge toolbox."

In my own eyes, those who do it for a living and still find the time to volunteer, are top-notch, and should be applauded for their efforts, not criticized.

ALS - I know you don't volley anymore, but I know deep down if you had the time, you would. :-k

[Guest alsfirefighter]

sniff sniff, 585 I stood up and sang god bless america with that post. ugh, I getta tissue. lol.

I can neither confirm nor deny that first I would vollie again, or that 8-[ I am volling somewhere (in a all vollie dept. of course) again.

[Guest ewsmith70]

Neither the IAFF nor the UFA (NYC’s IAFF affiliate) is actively pursuing stopping their members from volunteering in all volunteer departments. They are enforcing bylaws that prevent members from volunteering in departments where there are career firefighters. Now I know many of you don’t agree with this but it is simply the job of the union to protect all union members. If you volunteer where another union member works you are not helping them or their local. The problem is not as bad here as it is the Maryland, Virginia area. Also we all know that based on the populations served and call volume performed many departments located in Westchester, Rockland, and Nassau counties would be at least combination departments in most other states.

[hudson144 150]

in other words Don't eat where you sleep! or **** where you eat! ah you all know what I mean!