History of Action

March-April, 2006 International Fire Fighter

I get asked by members every time I go to stations and meetings around this continent: What does the IAFF do for me? What does the IAFF do for my local?

Sometimes, the question is a sincere inquiry by a member who’s just not clear on what we do — just a curious, supportive member who wants to know some of our union’s great history. Other times, it’s meant as a shot (can you imagine any of us in the fire service taking a shot at another?) — a sort of, “what have you done for me lately?"

Either way, I always answer, because our members pay the freight every month for our entire operation, and they deserve results for their dues paid and an answer to their questions.

Our members, particularly our newer members, should know the rich history of their union. They should know and understand the victories the IAFF has won to improve their lives and livelihoods, protect their health and safety and provide security for their families. They should know:

It was the IAFF that fought for and won a U.S. Public Safety Officer Benefit (PSOB) in 1976 that paid our families $50,000 in the case of a line-of-duty death, and today our lobbying has raised that federal benefit to more than $267,000 and expanded its coverage to include heart attacks and strokes.

In Canada, a private member’s motion passed calling for a similar law, and now our Canadian affiliates and staff are lobbying the new government to enact their version of a federal line-of-duty death benefit.

About 80 percent of our members participate in their deferred compensation plans, known as 457 plans. How many know that it was the IAFF that developed and directed the bill through Congress in the late 1970s that created this important retirement tool?

The pensions that fire fighters enjoy in their retirement years were fought for and won by IAFF locals, state and provincial councils and this International union.

Your union has been the driving force behind the development of standards for safe fire ground operations and important safety and health laws that protect you on the job, including NFPA, OSHA and other standards that jurisdictions must follow.

The gear you wear, including the turnouts, PASS systems, SCBAs, and apparatus requirements have all been raised significantly as a result of the ongoing work of the IAFF to ensure your safety.

NFPA 1710, which sets the standard for safe staffing levels; the FIRE Act, which provides money to U.S. municipalities for equipment and training; and the SAFER Act, which provides funding to jurisdictions in the states that need additional fire fighters are all products of the work of the IAFF.

The passage and protection of overtime entitlements and our coveted fire fighters’ workweek under the Fair Labor Standards Act were secured and strengthened by your International over the past two decades, ensuring that members are paid for the work they put in.

It was your union that helped raise more than $160 million and then administered those contributions, distributing every penny donated to the families of our fallen from the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

It is this IAFF that continues to answer the call when our members are hit with a disaster, as we did in both of the past two years after major hurricanes hit Florida and the Gulf Coast states. We were there with food, water, clothing and shelter, medical supplies and manpower to rebuild, and millions of dollars in direct financial aid to members who had lost everything.

This IAFF also provides assistance to locals on a daily basis (municipal financial analysis, GIS mapping, public relations and political assistance) when they are in negotiations, working to prevent station closings or staffing reductions, and to raise your voice, power and influence at the federal, state, provincial and local levels.

Our local and state and provincial affiliates will have a lot more to add to this list, including passing laws to extend bargaining rights or employment protections, providing health care and other fringe benefits, negotiating or lobbying for pay raises and representing your interests 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

One common thread you can weave through all of the victories and improvements that this union has won for fire fighters and EMS professionals over the years is that we achieved virtually all of these gains because we’re all united in one great union, and that has given us the clout we need to build the most powerful and respected political action program among all unions on the continent.

Where we are active in politics, on both sides of the political aisle, helping friends get elected and getting foes out of office — regardless of their political party affiliation — we are successful. Where we are not active, we run into trouble.

Although I have well over 100 station visits under my belt since becoming your General President in 2000, I wish I could be sitting with each of you at your station’s kitchen table answering the often proverbial question “What does the IAFF do for me?”

Stay safe and God bless.

Click Here to Read President Schaitberger's Past Messages

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