Building An Even Stronger Union

November-December, 2006 International Fire Fighter

We beat the odds in Virginia.

We beat the odds in Connecticut.

We beat the odds in Missouri, Iowa, Michigan, Wisconsin and Montana.

And in Canada, we beat the odds in Saskatchewan and Ontario.

In so many races, fire fighters engaged in difficult battles to elect candidates to Congress, governor’s mansions, state houses and provincial offices. We helped pass good statewide and local initiatives, including improving the minimum wage, and defeated bad referendums, such as TABOR. Even when it seemed we faced uphill battles, our members and leaders continued to work on behalf of those candidates who we believe will be our most promising political allies on issues important to the work you do.

And in race after race, we were victorious.

This was a long, tumultuous political season. And, if you were one of those who invested in your future by getting involved or contributing to FIREPAC, I congratulate you. All of the phone calls paid off. All of the rallies paid off. All of your grassroots political action paid off. We now have a majority in both houses of Congress that is fire fighter-friendly.  We now have friends in two provinces in Canada in key provincial posts that we did not have before — including several fire fighters who were elected to office.

We have also built a recognizable brand with our gold-and-black T-shirts and signs. We are visible. We are vocal. We are significant allies. Candidates increasingly recognize the value of having fire fighters stand with them at the podium when they accept our endorsement — and now it’s time to make them deliver for you.

With the difficult campaign work to get our political friends elected done, it’s time to buckle down and get to work on our legislative agenda to ensure that key bills that benefit you get congressional approval. Rest assured, we will be holding all elected officials accountable to deliver results for our membership.

If our political work during election season is a sprint, then our legislative work is a marathon, and we have already begun the race.

In the U.S. Congress, among the most important issues before us is gaining collective bargaining rights for all our members. An estimated 56,000 IAFF members are prohibited by arcane state laws from collective bargaining, and it’s time for the U.S. federal government to guarantee that all public safety workers in this country have the same basic right — to negotiate a contract — that all other workers in the United States have enjoyed for almost 70 years. This remains our top legislative priority.

We must also put our legislative emphasis behind efforts to improve health and safety for all professional fire fighters. While we have standards through NFPA guidelines that govern safety equipment, staffing, fire ground operations and training, in most cases, those standards aren’t enforceable. Just as important, we need to standardize data collection for fire fighter injuries and deaths. We currently lack a uniform reporting requirement, and it hinders our ability to hold our employers accountable for important safety and health protections that could help us save the lives of our members in what is already an inherently dangerous job.

We will also engage in our annual effort to increase funding for the FIRE Act and SAFER Act, the primary funding mechanisms that provide equipment, training and staffing for fire departments around the country.

We will ratchet up our efforts to protect your pensions where they are under attack, and to fix a broken health care system that is taking more and more out of your wallets each year, while the level and quality of care gets worse and worse.

We have significant work to do, and significant needs that must be addressed. The U.S. Fire Administration’s Needs Assessment, released in mid-November, illustrates the fundamental shortcomings of fire departments nationwide.

Fire fighters and paramedics need legislative help to overcome these obstacles. Now that we have a fire-fighter friendly Congress, it’s time to find out if they are really on our side and willing to help us address our needs.

And, as we find just who our champions will be on Capitol Hill, we’ll be making our list of who we will stand with in 2008 and who will benefit from our army in gold and black.

Click Here to Read President Schaitberger's Past Messages

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