IAFF against N.Y. City Firefighters for bush

[Hey Slim]

There's an article on Firehouse.com today about the IAFF being pissed at FDNY Firefighters union for there support of bush. I say screw the IAFF on this one. read the article and let me know what u think. :mad:

[mikebcfd]

I say screw the iaff, they our money out of our check and then support whatever canidate they want without our opinion. My iaff local 734 supported mayor O'Malley after he closed 7 fire houses and refused to give us a decent raise So screw half the time they dont look out for us .

[Keepnitsafe]

Quick link to the article (http://www6.lexisnexis.com/publisher/EndUser?Action=UserDisplayFullDocument&orgId=534&topicId=17906&docId=l:232485957&start=275)

What a bunch of fricken morons! What the hell does what happened on and after 9-11 have to do with American citizens, exercising their rights as American citizens to campaign for whom they think is the best candidate for the job?

"I'm certain he wouldn't like it if I went up there and campaigned for a mayor he didn't support," David Eckman, president of the Pennsylvania Professional Fire Fighters Association, said yesterday.
Is this guy that big of an ass hole that he can’t see the difference between a “NATIONAL” election and a local election? Maybe the people from NY didn’t like it when the IAFF campaigned on their turf for someone they did not support. But you don’t see them whining about it, you see them doing something about it!
"Apparently, Local 94 has decided that the 260,000 brothers and sisters who came through for you with blood, sweat, tears and money after 9/11 don't count anymore," Lou Paulson, president of California Professional Firefighters, said in a letter to Cassidy.
Again… what the hell does what they did after 9-11 have to do with whom the folks from NY decide to support in the election. Are you a “brother” or “sister” only when you fall in line with what the ass wipes on New York Ave tell you and drink the Kool Aid when they say so? (New York Ave is the home of the IAFF for those that don’t know)
From Brian Tobin, president, Professional Firefighters of Arizona
"I was in Manhattan on Sept. 15th, 2001, working hard to assist your members ... You weren't the president of Local 94 at that time. Maybe that's why you could not find the leadership in your gut to steer your ship straight."
Who’s to say that their ship is not being steered straight… maybe it’s your fricken ship that is off course.

So much for free speech and freedom of expression in the IAFF… what a bunch of ass holes!

[Keepnitsafe]

There is an excellent 13-minute video of Kerry at, http://www.kerryoniraq.com/ . When you get to the web site, scroll down until you see "Watch Now" on the right side of the page then click on the program you want to watch the video on.

[staticx]

Sanders said he respected the right of New York City firefighters to endorse anyone they want, but he urged them to "not attempt to spread your misguided message across other jurisdictions."

And what makes their message guided?

[Lt.Dan]

Check out firefightersforbush.com No Local was ever polled as to supporting a canidate for President.

[1014engine]

If only the IAFF had a REAL leader like Steve Cassidy! I salute him and UFA Local 94 for endorsing the candidate that’s right for America, not just the supposed choice of organized labor.

I agree wholeheartedly with Cassidy’s letter of endorsement to President Bush, "There are many issues in which we share common ground. During the attack on our nation on September 11, 2001, your leadership and compassion sustained us during our darkest hour. Your post September 11th policies have strengthened our nation by taking the war to the terrorists. Additionally your overall record of achievement and support for firefighters proves that you have earned another four years leading this great nation."

It makes me sick to see these so-called IAFF members clad in their yellow (how appropriate) t-shirts proclaiming “IAFF Firefighters for Kerry,” spending my hard earned dollars, when I happen to think the man is a traitor and a liar. I have to wonder if these union yes-men even ride fire trucks; most of them look like they are professional union parasites who live too comfortably on expense accounts paid for with the sweat of their members. They appear better suited to cozy little office jobs than to humping a hoseline down a hot smoky hallway.

Real firefighters know that there is a time so support a candidate based solely on his support for “firefighter issues” and there is a time when we must support the candidate who is doing everything in his power to keep all of America safe from the very real threat of terrorism. Saddam Hussein supported terrorism. He had the brutal track record to prove it, and the resources to commit further atrocities. Can anyone deny that having a free and democratic Iraq as an ally in the middle-east will not help deter the terrorism coming from that troubled part of the world?

The IAFF says “the Executive Board passed a unanimous resolution of endorsement, capping an extensive decision-making process that included polling of its state and local leadership and rank-and-file members.” Well, I am an IAFF member, I was never polled and I don’t know of one single IAFF member who was. In fact, I don’t know anyone who knows anyone who was polled! What's that smell? Could it be we are being misled?

The IAFF says, just as fire fighters have been hailed as heroes for their courage and their sacrifice, so has John Kerry faced hostile fire as the gunboat he commanded fought its way up the Mekong Delta. They conveniently forget that he served only 4 months in combat before taking advantage of the first opportunity to leave his men behind - something no real firefighter would do – then he went on to give aid and comfort to the enemy after his comfort and safety was assured.

What the IAFF doesn’t tell us is that under the Bush administration funding for fire service increased by 400% over the previous administration and in FY 2005 first responder funding will be increased by almost 700%. My question for Harold Schaitberger is this: You’ve been riding the gravy train for some time now, so what kind of ultra-cushy cabinet position did Hanoi John promise you in return for you selling us out?

[staticx]

Well said 1014.

[KMA]

I am ashamed and embarrassed that our local (36) didn't have the courage that our brothers in NY had.

[staticx]

KMA

The only problem with that is alot of our guys and gals are supporting that other idiot.

[BMIG]

If you let your occupation decide who you vote for, how smart does that really make you.

In the end do politicians really care that you ride around in a red truck? No. They care about the GREEN that you contribute to their office/campaign.

[xabo]

KMA

The only problem with that is alot of our guys and gals are supporting that other idiot.

Which idiot woul that be?

[staticx]

The one that claims he has always been fascinated with rap music, and says he wants to be the second black president. Hey don't shoot the messenger he said it not me, just one of his many ways of trying to kiss ass to get votes.

[BMIG]

The one that claims he has always been fascinated with rap music, and says he wants to be the second black president. Hey don't shoot the messenger he said it not me, just one of his many ways of trying to kiss ass to get votes.


And visiting Cabela's in Michigan isn't kissing azz to get votes? And just to let you in on a little secret. More white kids buy hip hop music than any other ethnic group.

[xabo]

So what you're saying is... You're gonna support the IDIOT that's in there now? Well at least we know what he's about.

[1014engine]

Superb article from Accuracy In Media (http://www.aim.org/media_monitor/1974_0_2_0). So why isn't the Washington Post reporting this?

ALL IAFF members, regardless of their political leaning, should be outraged by this and demand Schaitberger's immediate impeachment.

Firefighters Versus the Media
By Cliff Kincaid | September 28, 2004

. . . the president of the firefighters union engineered an endorsement of John Kerry for president without asking his members about it.

One of the biggest stories of the presidential campaign is being ignored by the major media. It's how the president of the firefighters union engineered an endorsement of John Kerry for president without asking his members about it. It turns out most of the members of the union are Republicans who support Bush.
Harold Schaitberger, the president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, the IAFF, has received tons of publicity and has been shown repeatedly with Kerry at campaign events. These appearances convey the impression that the firefighters who performed heroically on 9/11 have abandoned Bush. But it's Schaitberger who abandoned his members.
During the Republican convention, the union representing New York City's 8,600 firefighters endorsed Bush. But stories about this development tried to diminish the significance of the endorsement by noting that the international union, the IAFF, had endorsed Kerry. The stories failed to explain, as we did in a recent Media Monitor, that Schaitberger made this decision without polling his members. Instead, a few members were asked about the characteristics they wanted in a president. On that basis, Scahitberger decided to endorse Kerry. Schaitberger admitted to MSNBC's Chris Matthews that there are more Republicans than Democrats in his union.
"Thank you so very much for your work on exposing these facts." That's how a professional firefighter and member of the IAFF local 2876 of South Kitsap Fire District 7 in Washington state responded to our Media Monitor on this matter. He told us, "I am so sick and tired of union 'leaders' talking for us, so much so that I don't pay into the PAC [political action committee] fund anymore because it does not represent my views or the majority of those of my co-workers either. No one in our department, to my knowledge, received or heard of a poll regarding who we supported. I am a proud firefighter for Bush as are, I believe by straw poll, a great many of my fellow firefighters, including our VP. "
Using the same old ploy, a Newsday story about the firefighters' endorsement of Bush claimed that, "the International Association of Fire Fighters unanimously endorsed Kerry and its members have since often campaigned with him." But that once again ignores the fact that the endorsement was delivered without polling members of the union. Not surprisingly, the New York Times compounded the error. It declared, "A year ago, the nation's main firefighters' union, the 260,000-member International Association of Firefighters, became the first large union to endorse Mr. Kerry." That falsely implied that these 260,000 members had voted to endorse Kerry.
The Firefighters for Bush website continues to ask firefighters whether any of them were ever consulted by Schaitberger about the Kerry endorsement. One posted the following answer: "I don't think anyone but Schaitberger's opinion counts at all. The IAFF is stealing our dues to support Kerry." Another said, "It's disgusting a portion of our dues go toward campaigning against President Bush." This is the story that the media should tell.

Accuracy In Media is a non-profit, grassroots citizens watchdog of the news media that critiques botched and bungled news stories and sets the record straight on important issues that have received slanted coverage.
Contact Information
Address:
4455 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite #330
Washington, D.C. 20008
Phone: (202) 364-4401
Fax: (202) 364-4098

[DCHVFD]

It is a simple solution....Before you spend all of our money trying to put a liberal piece of crap in office ask your members! To me it is obvious which candidate is best for the American people. The false economy that Bush inherited from the previous administration was going down the toilet and then 9-11 hit and sent it further down the crapper. In 3 short years he has taken that economy and has brought it up to a point it has never "really" been at in years. Home ownership is at it's highest point in years, look in the parking lot of your firehouse and count the number of cars older than 4 years.

Unemployment appears down, but again the false economy that Clinton created with computer companies and dot coms that had no substance failed, and with that goes high-tech jobs, thus the unemployment rate decreasing. Enron, WorldCom, and the likes were allowed to show false profits in hopes of rebounding, we see what that did! All of this came from the same folks that "our" union is supporting.

But with all that said, no other President in our history has given more money to the fire service. We were never a blip on any previous administrations radar screen, yet under Bush the American Fire Service has been given Billions of dollars for better equipment and staffing. After learning that Thermal Imagers were a relatively new technology for the fire service even though military had been using the technology for 20 years, Bush signed a bill that stated that any equipment or technology created for military that could be used for the fire service would be given to the fire service. His support for our profession is obvious and apparent, yet our union still feels a need to support a candidate based on labor issues, rather than our profession.

I am sick and tired of seeing those yellow shirts behind Kerry at his speeches. Those are the folks that are representing "US" as a whole at each of those events and allot of us don't feel the same way. How would you like it if Local 36 just appointed whomever to be our union president? That is basically the treatment we received from the IAFF. "Ray Your No Longer President....Lets Welcome Jim Davis" Ouch that hurt!

There are numerous other reasons to vote Bush and I would love to type them all here but my fingers are tired. Take a good look at both candidates and educate yourself, Fahrenheit 911 is not education, pick up a paper, get on the internet, watch the debates and LISTEN! True, Bush is not a savvy speaker but that should not influence your vote. He does not need to pronounce every word to be a great President, in fact read or listen to his post 9-11 speech. It was not written or planned just him speaking from his heart, it was one of the best speeches in American History.

Go out to the polls and make your voice heard!

[DrNapalm]

Betrayal : How Union Bosses Shake Down Their Members and Corrupt American Politics
by LINDA CHAVEZ, DANIEL GRAY

After you read this book there will be no doubt in you mind as to how the people on NY ave think. Read it and make up your own mind.

[staticx]

BMIG

[QUOTE]More white kids buy hip hop music than any other ethnic group.

I'm not doubting that fact, but if you believe that Kerry has always been fascinated with hiphop music, I've got a bridge that connects Anne Arundel County with the Easter shore that shortens your trip to Ocean City that I'll sell you for real cheap. Now being that Bush is an outdoorsman (someone who enjoys fishing and hunting and stuff like that) I don't think that visiting a Cabelas is very far fetched.

[Hey Slim]

great posts everyone, the iaff is screwing us on this 1 for shore.
a couple of u said something about due's money being spent 4 kerry, there not suppose 2 spend due's money on politics. that's what the copa fund is 4. not that they don't (they lie 2 us about everything else) but it's illegal. :eek:
we should b able 2 do something about this bs though.

Schaitberger needs 2 go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!! :mad:

[Hey Slim]

Does anyone know how 2 go about removing shitberger from office? If so let us know so we can get the process started!
Kerry will take care of our problem if he finds a way to get elected :eek:
Fuck Kerry, lets get rid of both shit bags our selves :D :D

[? BUCKY IS HERE]

Insted Of Paying Into The Copa Fund Since We Are Supporting Kerry, Lets Start A New Fund Called Can The Shitburger Fund!!!

[truckie4ever]

If only the IAFF had a REAL leader like Steve Cassidy! I salute him and UFA Local 94 for endorsing the candidate that’s right for America, not just the supposed choice of organized labor.

I agree wholeheartedly with Cassidy’s letter of endorsement to President Bush, "There are many issues in which we share common ground. During the attack on our nation on September 11, 2001, your leadership and compassion sustained us during our darkest hour. Your post September 11th policies have strengthened our nation by taking the war to the terrorists. Additionally your overall record of achievement and support for firefighters proves that you have earned another four years leading this great nation."

It makes me sick to see these so-called IAFF members clad in their yellow (how appropriate) t-shirts proclaiming “IAFF Firefighters for Kerry,” spending my hard earned dollars, when I happen to think the man is a traitor and a liar. I have to wonder if these union yes-men even ride fire trucks; most of them look like they are professional union parasites who live too comfortably on expense accounts paid for with the sweat of their members. They appear better suited to cozy little office jobs than to humping a hoseline down a hot smoky hallway.

Real firefighters know that there is a time so support a candidate based solely on his support for “firefighter issues” and there is a time when we must support the candidate who is doing everything in his power to keep all of America safe from the very real threat of terrorism. Saddam Hussein supported terrorism. He had the brutal track record to prove it, and the resources to commit further atrocities. Can anyone deny that having a free and democratic Iraq as an ally in the middle-east will not help deter the terrorism coming from that troubled part of the world?

The IAFF says “the Executive Board passed a unanimous resolution of endorsement, capping an extensive decision-making process that included polling of its state and local leadership and rank-and-file members.” Well, I am an IAFF member, I was never polled and I don’t know of one single IAFF member who was. In fact, I don’t know anyone who knows anyone who was polled! What's that smell? Could it be we are being misled?

The IAFF says, just as fire fighters have been hailed as heroes for their courage and their sacrifice, so has John Kerry faced hostile fire as the gunboat he commanded fought its way up the Mekong Delta. They conveniently forget that he served only 4 months in combat before taking advantage of the first opportunity to leave his men behind - something no real firefighter would do – then he went on to give aid and comfort to the enemy after his comfort and safety was assured.

What the IAFF doesn’t tell us is that under the Bush administration funding for fire service increased by 400% over the previous administration and in FY 2005 first responder funding will be increased by almost 700%. My question for Harold Schaitberger is this: You’ve been riding the gravy train for some time now, so what kind of ultra-cushy cabinet position did Hanoi John promise you in return for you selling us out?


Amen Brother Local 94 & 854 The FDNY Locals are the true americans in the IAFF. The rest can kiss my NY Irish A##.

[harney]

It is real easy to rant and rave on TWD and other anonymous sites. I wonder how many of the people who bitch about the union and its endorsements have ever made their feelings known in any other forum.

I am the last one to defend the actions of the IAFF and its officers, but the only way to change things is to get involved. At the IAFF convention in August, Schaitberger was reelected (by acclamation) to another four year term as IAFF General President. That means that no one ran against him. It's kind of hard to call for his ouster right now. It's not like he has done anything since the convention that he hasn't been doing since the IAFF (meaning Harold, Vinnie, and the VPs) first endorsed Kerry.

BTW, I am completely opposed to the IAFF endorsement of Kerry. I was the ONLY delegate at the 1996 IAFF convention to vote against endorsing the reelection of Monica's boyfriend. Talk about pissing into the wind!

If you feel (as I do) that the IAFF endorsement is a mistake, and you want the International to know it, go to the next General Membership meeting of the Local and make your voice heard. You can influence the direction of the Local, but only if you get off of your collective asses and DO SOMETHING.

Schaitberger and his Executive Board are counting on everyone doing just what they are doing now - venting on a forum like this and nothing more. That approach allows him, Vinnie Bollon, and the 16 VPs (who never buck the Prez) to make policy and tell the media that it is the will of the 260,000 members. :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Hey Slim]

John, your right

but i do have some problems with your statments and i have to go. i'll be back soon to tell ya. like wednesday

[Dan Dugan]

truckie4ever wrote:
Amen Brother Local 94 & 854 The FDNY Locals are the true americans in the IAFF. The rest can kiss my NY Irish A##.

Local 854 stuck with the IAFF. By the way thats the Officers Local

[Hey Slim]

I've been involved n the union most of my career n one way or another. I was with u n vegas during the 02 convention when the IAFF voted to boycott bush. I think things got rolling one way and everyone jumped n with the flow except us. I think this happens when there at the convention and they nominate a presidential candidate, everyone just goes with what the IAFF president says. If he says it's good for us, it must be. He would'nt lie to us, would he? Thats why I think were here, no polls from the membership, no questions asked. The president would'nt lie to us. Well some of us know better. This is BS and it's to late for this year but for the next election there should be some kind of poll taken of the membership. Until there is I will never send a dime of my money to the IAFF copa fund.
As for our local I believe the membership wants someone else to take care of it for them. It's BS, but thats the way I see it. Hell, when u go to the meetings and bring shit up, its only u the board and 10 or 15 other members out of about 1100 off duty FF. With this amount of participation, the board makes some decisions on its own. But thats what u get when u don't participate.
So I agree that we all need to get involved with the local. If you don't, then shut the hell up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still want to know if the procedures to remove shitberger from office are different from removing someone from the local office.

and it's still bull shit that the IAFF backed Carrie! Way 2 go NY City Firefighters.