Whether you’re sizing up a new neighbor or someone on the job, or trying to decide whether you believe your union is doing its job or if a political candidate is on your side, it’s human nature to pick through the perception and find the reality.

The perception of unions in general is that they almost exclusively support Democrats in the United States and Liberals or the NDP in Canada. And for the most part, that’s the reality.

But it’s not the reality for us. The simple fact is that this union has a strong record of supporting those candidates who support our issues, regardless of party. Just take a look at the chart on our web site (www.iaff.org/election06) of the candidates for U.S. federal and state executive office that this union supported in the 2006 election.

It’s a record we’ve worked hard to build over the years — and it’s a record that is respected on Capitol and Parliament Hills, and in state houses and in municipal governments by all parties.

When I talk about this issue with fire fighters across the continent, what I almost always hear back is that we’ve only supported Democrats for president of the United States (we’ve never endorsed a candidate for prime minister of Canada). And while that’s true, this union plays a key role in elections at every level in our two countries, so measuring our political record based on endorsements for one office is not appropriate.

What I ask is that you judge us by the reality of what we’ve been able to accomplish, not the perception. And the record shows that the IAFF is in a position that no other union on this continent is.

We are winning at all levels, while other unions struggle to defend themselves — and we are winning because we have friends on all sides of the political aisles.

No matter who’s in charge, because of our non-partisan principle, we’ve been able to advance our agenda.

The proof is in the $1 million that the Conservatives running the Canadian government allotted for us in the 2007 budget for our Haz-mat and CBRN training programs because we’ve made it clear to them that we will judge them by their actions, not by their party label.

And it’s in the Criminal Code amendments the Liberals made just for us in 2004 to protect our Canadian members from traps inside illegal drug operations, and in the pension accrual rate regulation the Liberals enacted for professional fire fighters in 2003.

The proof is in the five private members’ motions and two private members’ bills on IAFF issues that are before Parliament right now, and the fact that more are being discussed on the Hill.

The proof is in comparing our success to that of our law enforcement colleagues — post 9/11 — in winning federal grants. The COPs program has disappeared off the radar screen, while the numbers for UASI, USAR and various direct fire service grants continue to grow. It is in understanding that we successfully got $115 million for the SAFER Act from a Republican Congress and, more recently, that we doubled the number to $230 million in a Democratic-controlled House Appropriations Committee.

The proof is in the passage of Hometown Heroes which extends federal benefits in deaths related to heart disease and stroke. It’s in our HELPS bill, which provides billions of dollars in tax relief to public safety workers to help pay for health care in retirement.

And today, because we have more friends on the Hill than any other interest group in the country, we are on the verge of our most important legislative victory in decades. The IAFF’s single-most important legislative initiative — gaining collective bargaining rights for all our members — is currently making its way through Congress.

We far surpassed our goal of getting a majority in the House of Representatives to cosponsor our bill by the Memorial Day recess. In all, 236 (and counting) of the 440 members of the House have signed on as cosponsors. The bill continues to enjoy strong, bipartisan support with 61 Republicans as cosponsors.

Getting this bill passed will be a monumental accomplishment for our members who have gone too long without the basic right to bargain.

At the state and provincial levels, we are seeing critical victories in our efforts to get presumptive legislation for fire fighters implemented and improved across the continent (see the article on page 10).

Our union has been successful politically while others have not because we have a real record of support for candidates and legislators who support our issues — party labels don’t matter to us. We also have a reputation as a tough adversary to those who have not been friends to fire fighters.

As we move closer to the 2008 U.S. presidential election, we have been providing a significant amount of information about the candidates running for commander in chief. Full footage of our major national Presidential Forum in Washington, DC in March, a smaller one in New Hampshire in May, and another in Iowa in June is being made available at www.iaff.org and is being reported in our magazine. And I encourage you to log on and view the speeches of all of the candidates who are pursuing our union’s coveted endorsement.

One of our most significant political efforts right now is raising awareness among our membership about the monumental leadership failures of former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani during and after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

As Rudy Giuliani runs for the Republican nomination for president of this great country, he promotes himself as a 9/11 hero and as a terror-stalking homeland security expert.

In fact, Rudy Giuliani is a shameless self-promoter who has a record of failing to prepare our FDNY members for an attack in the city that had seen the only previous attack on our homeland when the World Trade Centers were bombed in 1993. And, he is exposed in our video, which is available on our web site and at www.Rudy-urbanlegend.com, through the dramatic, first-hand testimony, views and opinions of FDNY members and family members who detail Rudy’s failures in preparing the fire department and recovering those we lost.

This video is important for our affiliates to see and hear, and I strongly encourage you to watch it online. But it is only part of our education effort on the candidates running for president of the United States.

Going forward, we will continue to apply our non-partisan principle to this process, just as we do to every election at every level.

We will continue to hold events for any of the major candidates who show an interest in winning our support. And we will continue to provide you with access through the internet, magazine and other methods, to educate yourself on the reality of where the candidates stand on issues important to this union and your job.

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