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Politics and our Unions
If you are a professional FF and are part of a union you may find an article titled "A Tangled Web Indeed!" interesting.
you can find it here; http://www.firefightersforfreedom.blogspot.com
Anyone up for such a discussion?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Vic Silverfish on
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Wow. Just...wow.
That's some high-quality crazy there.
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Permalink Reply by Ben Waller on
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What's crazy about it? The guy doesn't like the fact that his union is spending his money on people that he sees as counterproductive to his country's interests.
"Crazy" is a mischaracterization.
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Permalink Reply by RsqRog on
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Vic,
You would have to elaborate on your statement, it can be read two different ways.
Ben,
Its a little more than, I do not Like it, I am trying to get my fellow Union members to see what it is our national leaders, especially the AFL CIO, are doing with our money in our name. Once they are awake to it, then we need to do something about it. Are you in a Union?
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No, I'm not a union member. I understand the issues here pretty clearly, though.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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Seems to be some misconceptions going on here. First and foremost as any IAFF local, the IAFF local is autonomous to the IAFF. This meas each local does their own negotiating and contracts, etc, the IAFF does not come in and do it. Yes, dues money does go towards the IAFF, but such costs also cover legal help, GIS studies, municipal breakdowns, etc, as well as money spent on education for IAFF events like ALTS, LEG, Redmond, etc. Along with that is the lobbying efforts of the IAFF on behalf of all FF's, money going from the IAFF for innovations which will help all FF's, whether affiliated or not....flat pack SCBA comes to mind.
So what I see in the blog is the stretching of dues for other issues along the AFL-CIO, and I say stretch because to clearly garner what dues are being paid is tough to assimilate. In the end an individual's dues can account for very little. Does this mean the IAFF and any other labor organization does things that a single member may disagree with? Absolutely, but so what? How is this different than paying taxes and seeing tax dollars go to fund other entities one does not agree with? In case the OP hasn't noticed unions, and public employees in particular, have come under attack by many in power now who cater to big money and special interest. We see attacks unprecident from years past and it isn't just public safety but all areas. Yeah sure you aren't going to personally agree with every aspect of involvement, but one does need to look at the bigger picture.
As it is the IAFF has made a bold statement by telling federal politicians they are no longer going to contribute any money to campaigns, yet instead spend money at the local and state levels. The IAFF still is doing the job of looking out for firefighters, but the fact remains every decison will not rest easy on the minds of every individual FF. Just like taxes, the money gets distrubuted as needed, necessary, and as voted on by other IAFF reps. In the end I see a tough go for the blogger to bring his issue to fruition, but also be known he still does have a voice and can make his case. Yet, I don't think he is looking at the big picture either.
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Thanks for your input John, let me break it down a little more basic. Our unions make nothing, there is no product we manufacture and sell, ALL the money the AFL CIO uses comes from dues paying members, or as we can see in the blog post, tax dollars. That means any all money that the IAFF gives to the AFL CIO comes from us. You skirt the issue by confusing the point. What it comes down to is this, our UNION LEADERSHIP is using our money to support an agenda that is anti-American, and as I showed in the linked post, anti- Israel. Its a simple choice between good and evil. If you choose support evil, one would have to ask why? Is it for a pension? Is it for a pay check? Yes they have told you, that you have come under attack, and you must support us or your screwed. Well sir look farther at other post on the blog, especially about our pensions. This whole thing about collective bargaining is about them not us. What we need, as I explain in other blog post, is a return of the stock market to levels that most experts agree is not likely. There is only one way out and that is through LIBERTY and FREEDOM, this whole big government, spread the wealth thing is not going to work out for you and me, but it will for Trumka and Harold.
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so, hang on a second...you need a better pension plan, but you are opposed to big government? Our taxes are going to anti-American interests, but we should spend more money supporting Isreal? Are you sure you've thought this through all the way?
You can throw around words like LIBERTY and FREEDOM but to be honest with you I'm not sure what they mean. I would argue that in a democracy, we vote in the governement that we deserve. If you honestly think the IAFF would be better off if the AFL CIO were weakend, and if we put more anti-labour politicians (like Rick Perry, Paul Ryan and Scott Walker) in office, than I respectfully disagree and think you are being duped into acting against your own best interests.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on
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Somebody is not happy today... That is painfully apparent in this post...
This would definitely be a discussion in the firehouse that I would go out of my way to stay out of... While I may not always agree on things the union does, for the most part, the focus, at least by my local has always been about wages and working conditions.
Local politics and issues are always handled and pursued by firefighters that are a lot more politically savy than I was. They worked hard negotiating against bean counters whose sole purpose was to take away negotiated benefits, workers rights and working conditions that include apparatus and PPE. Through a joint effort of labor and management, we have been able to work in harmony, focusing on the publics needs as the number one priority.
I think your provided link(s) are inflammatory and do nothing to serve the FFN community. This post is basically a shit stirring fiasco that screams personal agenda, but then again, I'm not a political person and would never allow this type of anti-union bashing. The heart and sole of the union is the membership and their families, not the elected officials.
Just sayin'
CBz
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Fair call, Ben.
The post is a stream of conciousness rant against organised labour that is historically inaccurate (for example, he credits the 6 Day War (1967) with creating the Moslem Brotherhood (founed in 1928)), uses ominous terms to tar associations like The Solidarity Center (I had to look them up, they're basically an international labour movement) and a host of other retorical tricks to basically advance a bunch of pro-business talking points under the guise of being pro-Isreal.
Organised labour serves as a critical balence to the moneyed interests in this country. There is a ton of money and energy going into discrediting labour in the hopes that working people will have even less voice and less politcal influence than they do now. If you want the IAFF to have a stronger voice in American politics, you need to encourage unions in industries across the economy. By pooling your efforts on a national scale, it gives a small union (like the IAFF) a much bigger voice.
My favorite part is where he writes about governemnt being too big, then complains that his pension should be better! Good luck with that!
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None of which really addresses his point about union money being spent to support causes that aren't in the best interests of the United States and its citizens.
Your last sentence is a disconnect - it doesn't take big government to either fund or administer fire department pensions.
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Big government has nothing to do with fire department pensions. Trying to tie them together is creating a false dilemma.
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The citizens of Wisconson disagree. Government pensions and benefits are a massive liabiltiy, especially for state and municiple governments. This was the foundation of the protests in Wisconson earlier this year.
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