Florida Protesters Greet Wisconsin’s Walker
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This is a cross-post by Karen Hickey, communications director at the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.
Working families in southwest Florida are standing in solidarity with Wisconsin workers and protesting Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) visit to Naples. Walker spoke this morning at the Ritz-Carlton resort in Naples, Fla., as part of the James Madison Institute think-tank luncheon.
The protesters in the Sunshine State are shining a light on Walker’s attacks on middle-class families. WZVN, a local news station, is reporting that:
Protesters are lined up to express their disapproval of the embattled governor…at Vanderbilt Beach and Airport Pulling. They say Walker is in town trying to raise money to defeat the recall election he faces in Wisconsin.
The timing is perfect, says Wally Ilczyszyn, president of Florida’s Painters & Allied Trades (IUPAT).
Walker’s at the Ritz-Carlton for a $500-a-plate luncheon because he can’t find enough money in his home state to fight against his recall. So he has to come here. Read the rest of this entry »
Monroe Unions Serve 800 Thanksgiving Dinners
Michael J. Smith, AFL-CIO Community Services Liaison in Monroe, Mich., sends us this report.
For the past 20 years, Monroe (Mich.) Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 326 has held an annual holiday dinner serving those in need in the city of Monroe. Says Sgt. Rob Wight of the Monroe Fire Department:
This year has been a little different. Our local union treasury has been depleted and we reached out to other unions, businesses and anyone willing to help us continue this tradition. We are grateful to those who stepped up and helped us make this happen.
The dinner was again successfully held on Thanksgiving Eve, Nov. 23, at St. Joseph Hall. More than 800 dinners were served. Santa Clause also made an appearance and he distributed gifts to all the children in attendance, putting smiles on all of their faces.
Bipartisan Group Tells Super Committee: Don’t Tax Workers’ Health Care
Andrew Pantelis, a lieutenant with the Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department in Landover, Md., says that taxing employer-provided health care benefits—a proposal before the so-called budget deficit “Super Committee”—would “hurt millions of working class Americans.”
Pantelis, president of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 1619, spoke at a Capitol Hill conference today where Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) and Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) released a letter to the Super Committee opposing elimination of the current tax exemption of the health care coverage employees receive at work. The letter was signed by 160 representatives of both parties.
Some 60 million Americans would face a bigger tax bill under the proposal. Says Pantelis:
Ohio Firefighter Veterans Speak Out Against S.B. 5/Issue 2
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With the fight in Ohio to defeat Issue 2 coming down to its final days, the Fire Fighters (IAFF) have launched ads featuring firefighters who are war veterans urging voters to vote “No on Issue 2.” A “No” vote on Issue 2 would repeal S.B. 5, the law passed this spring that takes away the right of public employees to collectively bargain for a middle-class life.
“We didn’t expect this kind of homecoming when we came back,” says Columbus firefighter David Jarvis, who served in Afghanistan following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and served in Operation Desert Storm during the first Gulf War.
Working Families Show Ohio’s Issue 2 Is ‘Nuts’
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Deborah Dion with the Ohio AFL-CIO field program sends us this.
Working families rallied at the Firefighters Memorial in front of the Cleveland Browns Stadium and distributed football-shaped stickers and 250 pounds of “Vote No on Issue 2″ peanuts to tens of thousands of football fans as they entered the stadium. Issue 2 would repeal S.B. 5, the law passed this spring that takes away the right of public employees to collectively bargain for a middle-class life.
Tom Lally, president of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 93, said during Sunday’s event:
“S.B. 5 is a safety issue for citizen and for firefighters, plain and simple. Issue 2 makes it illegal for us to negotiate for enough firefighters to do the job. We will be doing more with less staffing under Senate Bill 5. We are concerned that politicians are risking the safety of citizens and firefighters for political gain. We are asking citizens of Ohio to vote “No” on Issue 2 because if they keep us safe, we will keep them safe.”
Cleveland-area firefighters also canvassed tailgaters to talk with them about the safety Read the rest of this entry »
Rally Urges Senate to Put Teachers, First Responders Back to Work
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In May, on the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week in Broward County, Fla., Cherine Akbari was honored “with a fancy embroidered jacket and handed a pink slip.”
Today, the out-of-work history teacher was in Washington, D.C., along with hundreds of teachers, firefighters, police officers and supporters at an indoor Senate rally for the just-introduced Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act (S. 1723). The bill provides funds to local governments to put back to work or keep on the job some 400,000 teachers and first responders. Said Akbari, an AFT member:
I have my own worries, but I am more worried about my students….We need to ensure students have better opportunities to learn and receive the attention they deserve. Instead of being in front of a classroom today, I am here to urge Congress to pass this bill.
Click here to send a message to your senators urging them to support the bill.
The rally drew an overflow crowd that spilled into the Russell Senate Building hallways and was sponsored by the Fire Fighters (IAFF), AFT, AFSCME and other unions. IAFF President Harold Schaitberger called the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act a “critical piece of legislation for our nation’s economic future.”
In the past three years revenues have dropped. Some 300,000 teaching jobs lost, 15,000 firefighters jobs vacant, tens of thousands police officers’ jobs on the chopping block. The time for a solution is now and the time to put people back to work is now. The time to support this legislation is now.
Teacher/First Responder Bill Reverses Growing Public Safety Risk
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Across the country, tens of thousands of firefighters, paramedics and teachers have been laid off and the jobs of tens of thousands more are under threat. As this nationwide ad from the Fire Fighters (IAFF) shows, those first responder cuts are threatening public safety.
Says fire Capt. Tracey Wright:
Longer response times and fewer of us responding are putting our neighbors at risk.
The just-introduced Teachers and First Responders Act (S. 1723), would provide funds to local governments to put back to work or keep on the job some 400,000 teachers and first responders. It mirrors a provision in President Obama’s American Jobs Act that Senate Republicans blocked with a filibuster last week. In his most recent weekly address, Obama said provisions of the bill will be broken out for individual votes.
This afternoon on Capitol Hill, teachers, firefighters, paramedics and police officers will rally with Vice President Joe Biden, Senate leaders and union members to urge Congress to approve the legislation.
Click here for a live webcast of the event.
16th Annual International Burn Camp
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This is a crosspost by Tony Burke from the Fire Fighters blog.
For 16 years, the IAFF Burn Foundation has brought young survivors together to form new bonds at its annual international Burn Camp.
Starting Saturday, teens ages 13 to 15 will spend one week in Washington, DC to share their experiences at this year’s camp. They come from across the US and Canada.
The teens are paired with a professional fire fighter and camp counselor from a regional burn camp on their visit.
AFL-CIO Announces Infrastructure Investments
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka joined AFT President Randi Weingarten at the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting yesterday to announce progress in the labor movement’s commitment to investing in infrastructure, clean energy retrofitting and job training.
A broad coalition chaired by AFT, and including SEIU, AFSCME, National Education Association (NEA), Fire Fighters (IAFF), the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) and investment funds affiliated with the labor movement have worked with other partners to advance a set of goals announced in June at CGI America. At that meeting, the AFL-CIO committed to work with member unions, union pension funds, their investment professionals and government at every level to invest $10 billion in job creating infrastructure as well as at least $20 million in specific energy retrofits over the next year, a retrofit of AFL-CIO headquarters and training tens of thousands of workers in the skills necessary to work on 21st century infrastructure.
Fire Fighters Union Raises $27.2 Million for MDA
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This is a cross-post from the Fire Fighters (IAFF).
The 46th Annual MDA Labor Day Telethon raised $61.4 million to help fight neuromuscular diseases, $27.2 million of which was raised by Fire Fighters (IAFF) affiliates that conducted Fill-the-Boot campaigns and other fundraisers in their communities. The IAFF, now in its 57th year of supporting MDA, continues to be the top fundraiser for the charity.
During the telethon, IAFF President Harold Schaitberger delivered a check to MDA National Goodwill Ambassador Abbey Umali.
Our members know that with every dollar they raise, children’s lives are not only prolonged, but made better. That is why we will continue to work hard for MDA until there is a cure for muscular dystrophy and related diseases.
