111th Congress
Adjourns
(12/22/10)
The 111th Congress began with great
expectations. For the first time in a
generation both the House and Senate
were controlled by Democrats, and a
pro-labor, Democratic president was in
the White House. Despite the potential
for legislative success, partisan rancor
and a series of mishaps turned the 111th
Congress into an abyss in which
important legislation, including the
IAFF’s collective bargaining bill,
failed to pass.
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EPA Issues STOP USE of ZIMEK Disinfecting
Products
(01/07/11)
The United States Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has issued a stop use and sale
of the micro-misting disinfecting technology
sold by Zimek Technologies. EPA Region 2 has
ordered a New Jersey ambulance company,
Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corporation
(MONOC) to immediately stop the use of the
toxic micro-misting of their ambulances with
disinfectants acquired from Zimek
Technologies and the Zimek Micro-Misting
System. This device is used by MONOC to
deliver disinfectants to the interior of
ambulances as micron or submicron sized
particles. EPA’s enforcement action came as
a result of a formal complaint to the EPA by
IAFF Local 4610, the Professional Emergency
Services Association of New Jersey, on
behalf of its exposed brothers and sisters.
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Fire Prevention and Safety Grant
Application Period Opens
(01/03/11)
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
has announced that the application period
for Assistance to Firefighters (FIRE Act)
fire prevention and safety grants is open.
Fire departments can submit applications
beginning on January 3, 2011 at 8:00 a.m.
Eastern Time. Applications for these grants
must be received by February 4, 2011, at
5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
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President Obama Signs James Zadroga 9/11
Health and Compensation Act
President Obama signed the "James Zadroga
9/11 Health and Compensation Act," which
establishes the World Trade Center Health
Program and extends and expands eligibility
for compensation under the September 11th
Victim Compensation Fund of 2001.
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FEMA Announces First Two Rounds of FY
2010 SAFER Grants
(01/04/11)
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
has awarded the first two rounds of grants
through the Staffing for Adequate Fire
Emergency Response (SAFER) program for
Fiscal Year 2010 – totaling nearly $5
million – to fire fighters.
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FIREPAC Unveils New Donor Club Level
(01/03/11)
Effective January 1, the IAFF has rolled out
a new FIREPAC donor club level — the
Chairman’s Council — for members who
contribute $750 or more per calendar year.
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The IAFF Internet Manual: The Law and the
Internet for IAFF Affiliates
(01/03/11)
The IAFF has developed a new resource for
affiliate leaders on the legal rights and
responsibilities of members, officers and
affiliates – and employers – when it comes
using online media.
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IAFF Mourns Former Canadian Director Jack
Jessop
(01/10/11)
The IAFF is mourning a leader who was the
face of the IAFF’s Canadian Operations
during a formative time in the
International’s history. Jack Jessop, a
Toronto fire fighter who became the IAFF’s
first Canadian Director, died January 8 of
cancer. He was 90. A funeral service is
scheduled for January 15 in Smiths Falls,
Ontario, where Jessop lived following his
retirement.
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IAFF and Pro-Calendar Launch iPhone Shift
Calendar App
(12/13/10)
The IAFF and Pro-Calendar have partnered to
develop and release the most advanced App
for fire fighters for scheduling and
tracking critical job-related information.
This shift calendar and organizer helps you
manage your shift schedule, track sick, comp
and vacation time, schedule trainings and
take charge of all of your personal
appointments, plus much more.
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Pension Nonsense from the Playbook of our
Opponents
(01/11/11)
This story sheds some light on who’s fueling
the latest wave in the pension fight against
public employees. The playbook of our
opponents includes providing states a path
into bankruptcy so they can wiggle out from
under their pension obligations to public
employees. Americans for Tax Reform, a
Washington lobby group, says it is
“shopping” for a lawmaker to sponsor the
federal legislation. Another
recent story
shed light on the same tactic.
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IAFF Leader Passes Away at 100
(01/11/11)
Former IAFF 14th District Vice President and
Executive Assistant to the General President
Raymond Perry, 100, passed away January 7.
Perry was a dedicated fire fighter, spending
30 years with the Birmingham Fire Department
in Alabama, and union man, holding various
union offices for 40 years.
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US Dept of Labor Begins Review of Online
Voting
(01/11/11)
The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS),
within the U.S. Department of Labor, will
issue what is called a "Request for
Information" (RFI) on the use of electronic
voting systems, such as web- and telephone
based voting, for union officer elections.
It initiates a process (that will likely
take many months) to revisit severe legal
restrictions on the use of online voting
systems to conduct officer elections.
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Is This a Good Idea to Save the Fire
Department Money?
(01/11/11)
The Memphis Fire Department is considering
using smaller alternate response vehicles to
respond to emergency medical calls, but some
fire fighters aren’t convinced it’s such a
good idea. The IAFF posted this story, which
generated strong reactions.
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IAFF Frontline Blog
The IAFF Frontline Blog is designed to
communicate with IAFF members with
commentary, news and updates instantly on
issues important to them and to the IAFF.
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Fire Fighters in the
News
Everything Done
Right in Toronto Mayday
IAFF Frontline Blog (01/07/11)
Working with Toronto Local 3888 and our
Canadian Office, we have been following a
six-alarm fire in Toronto on January 3 that
demonstrated that the Fire Ground Survival (FGS)
training programs clearly work and saved the
lives of two of our Local 3888 members. If
these crews did not have this FGS training,
we would have been at funerals in Toronto
this week.
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Chicago Fire Fighters, Paramedics Approve
New Contract
Chicago Trubune (12/15/10); Byrne, John
Chicago fire fighters and paramedics
overwhelmingly approved a new contract that
grants them 10 percent raises over five
years. The contract, which members of
Chicago Local 2 approved by a vote of
3,036-421, is retroactive to 2007. It runs
through June 2012, according to Local 2
President Thomas Ryan. "We're pleased that
the membership agreed with the proposal,"
Ryan said. The salary increase was expected
after the City Council approved a contract
in June with an identical raise for Chicago
police.
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Vegas Firefighter Given Worker's Comp for
Breast Cancer
About.com (01/10/11); Stephan, Pam
Las Vegas fire fighter Robin Lawson was just
doing her job when she was diagnosed with
breast cancer. Lawson's oncologist
speculates that exposure to benzene, which
is used with polycylic aromatic hydrocarbons
to fight fires, caused her cancer, and said
that her workers' compensation costs should
be paid by the City. Lawson, who began
working as a fire fighter for Las Vegas in
1992, was diagnosed with breast cancer in
1997 and underwent at least eight months of
treatment. Her cancer reappeared in 2004 and
she was treated with a double mastectomy.
Her oncologist, Dr. Noel Rowan, gave his
professional opinion that benzene exposure
caused her cancer and thus made her eligible
for workers' compensation, for which she
applied in 2004. While the Las Vegas City
government continued to pay Lawson's health
insurance benefits, covering her treatment
and her time away from work, the City's
legal team denied her claim to continue
payment in the form of workers' comp. Her
case made it to the Nevada Supreme Court and
they ruled that indeed the cause of her
illness was work-related.
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Orange Police, Fire Fighters Sue to Halt
50 Layoffs
The Associated Press (01/06/11)
A lawsuit filed on behalf of police, fire
and City employees in Orange seeks an
injunction to block layoffs of 50 workers
scheduled. The suit names Mayor Eldridge
Hawkins Jr., the State of New Jersey and the
Civil Service Commission as defendants. The
lawsuit says the loss of police and fire
fighters can endanger residents and claims
City officials failed to have meaningful
discussions with employee unions before
submitting a layoff plan.
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Fairfax Co. rescuers: A year after Haiti
WTOP (01/11/11)
January 12 marks the one year anniversary of
the earthquake that devastated Haiti. But
locals needn't to look to the Caribbean
country almost 1,500 miles away for a first
hand account of the horrors from the 7.0
tremor. Members of the Fairfax County Urban
Search and Rescue team were among the first
responders for those who were trapped
beneath the rubble.
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Omaha Ordered to Pay Millions to
Firefighters
WOWT 6 News (01/05/11); Mastre, Brian
The City of Omaha was ordered to pay up to
$4 million in back wages to City fire
fighters, as the City has not approved a new
contract since fire fighters agreed to wage
freezes in 2009 and 2010. The union agreed
to the wage freezes as long as they got a
new contract, but the City has not approved
one in 18 months, and many City Council
members believe the last agreed-upon
contract was too expensive. Unless the City
appeals the decision by the Nebraska
Commission of Industrial Relations, it will
have 90 days to pay the settlement.
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Firefighters Feel the Squeeze of
Shrinking Budgets
Governing (January 2011); Walters, Jonathan
As a matter of political gospel -- and
survival -- fire fighters are sacrosanct. No
matter the depths of a municipality’s budget
crisis, neither the fire fighters’ ranks,
pay nor benefits are touchable. There are no
reductions in force for fire fighters. And
yet, in cities all across the country,
that’s exactly what has been happening. The
men and women in red are becoming as
vulnerable to budget cuts as other municipal
employees.
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Captains Will Remain in Mehlville, MO
Local 1889
International Association of Fire Fighters
(01/06/11)
The Missouri Board of Mediation has denied
the Mehlville Fire District’s petition to
remove fire captains from Mehlville, MO
Local 1889. “For over 30 years, our captains
have been valued members of the bargaining
unit,” says Local 1889 President Nick Fahs.
“We were very pleased with the board’s
ruling.”
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USFA: 2010 Record Low for On-Duty
Firefighter Deaths
Firehouse.com (01/05/11); Nicol, Susan
Preliminary data from the U.S. Fire
Administration (USFA) reveals that a record
low of on-duty fire fighter deaths occurred
last year. The USFA, which started compiling
the statistics in 1977, reports that there
were 85 on-duty deaths in 2010, and 15
involved Hometown Heroes, or fire fighters
who died of heart attacks or strokes within
24 hours of a response or training. Career
fire fighters accounted for 28 of the
deaths. Heart attacks were responsible for
56.4 percent of the deaths, and trauma was
reported in 23.5 percent of the cases; other
causes included stroke, burns, heat
exhaustion, asphyxiation and crushing.
Twenty-five of those who died were 61 or
older, while two were under 21. March and
July were the deadliest months, with 11
fatalities each, while February and August
had four.
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Langley Fire Fighter Succumbs to Injuries
Langley Times (01/06/11)
A Langley City fire fighter who was struck
and dragged by a train in Washington state
on November 6 has died. Ron Dunkley
succumbed to his injuries on January 4 at
Seattle's Harborview Medical Center.
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More Than 30 Fire Fighters Laid Off in
Gary
NBC Chicago (12/28/10); Perez, Alex
Four months ago, Gary, Indiana, fire fighter
Dave Herman was awarded the prestigious
"Best of the Best" award from the mayor's
office. This week, that same office gave him
something else: a layoff notice.
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For These Fayetteville Firefighters,
Healthy Meals Are on Fire
Fayetteville Observer (01/01/11)
As part of the Fayetteville (North Carolina)
Fire Department's effort to produce
stronger, healthier fire fighters, some
stations are switching to low-fat organic
ingredients in their meals rather than the
traditional two-alarm chili dinners. Captain
Zahra McBee and the fire fighters on B shift
at Station 5 on Boone Trail are eating the
lighter fare, and McBee has also launched a
fitness program for fire fighters as part of
the Department of Homeland Security's
Wellness Fitness Initiative. Both healthy
eating and exercise are necessary to be
truly healthy, McBee said. "It's a
double-edged sword," McBee said. "You can
work out like a fool but it's no good if
you're eating like a garbage compactor." On
a recent night at Station 5 fire fighters Ty
Quinn and John Galloway prepared a meal of
grilled chicken breasts, green beans,
saut?ed mushrooms and onions, wild rice, and
whole wheat rolls. "We try to get fruits and
vegetables with no preservatives," McBee
said. Galloway is famous for his spaghetti
with sausage, but he has switched to turkey
sausage to cut the fat content from 22 grams
to just two grams per serving. He added that
since the fitness program was started there
are fewer on-the-job injuries and sick days,
and he has been able to stop taking his
blood pressure medication. McBee said the
focus on health is important for a fire
department to perform at top levels. "It
makes no sense to test our ladders and
maintain our trucks when our people are our
best asset," McBee said.
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Bethesda Fire Fighters Take on 'Engine 2
Diet'
ABC 7 News (01/05/11); Parker, Julie
When a fire fighter in Austin, Texas,
started the 'Engine 2 Diet,' he and others
at his station dropped pounds and
cholesterol points. Now fire fighters in
downtown Bethesda are getting on board.
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