The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is a labor union representing professional fire fighters in the United States and Canada. The IAFF was formed in 1918 and is affiliated with the AFL-CIO in the United States and the Canadian Labour Congress in Canada. Currently, the IAFF has 280,000 members in 3,100 locals.Recently the IAFF began talks with the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) of the United Kingdom, the United Firefighters Union of Australia (UFUA), and the New Zealand Professional Firefighters Union (NZPFU) that could eventually result in a global alliance of fire fighting unions to further the cause of their members around the world. The nation's paid, professional fire fighters and paramedics protect 85 percent of the U.S. population.
The IAFF is one of the most active lobbying organizations in Washington. Its Political Action Committee, FIREPAC, is among the top 25 federal PACs among the more than 4,000 in the country.On March 14, 2007, the IAFF held a bipartisan presidential forum in Washington, D.C., that included all major Republican and Democratic candidates for president except former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani was invited March 5, accepted the invitation and subsequently declined to appear before the IAFF.
Democrats who attended were Sen. Joe Biden (DE), Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), Sen. Chris Dodd (CT), former Sen. John Edwards, Sen. Barack Obama (IL) and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.Republicans who attended were Sen. Sam Brownback (KS), Sen. Chuck Hagel (NE), former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, Rep. Duncan Hunter (CA) and Sen. John McCain (AZ).On Monday, August 27, 2007, the IAFF decided to endorse Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) for president in 2008.[1] On January 3, 2008, the evening of the Iowa Democratic caucuses, 2008, Sen. Dodd withdrew from the Presidential contest. On January 4, 2008, the IAFF said that it would wait until March to endorse another candidate.
Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial
About 100 IAFF members die in the line of duty each year. They are honored at the IAFF Fallen Fire Fighter Memorial in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where their names are etched in a wall. On September 16, 2006, fire fighters paid tribute to 122 fallen members who died in the line of duty between June 2005 and June 2006. The memorial service which was held on September 20, 2008 honoured 137 line of duty deaths which occurred between June 2007 to June 2008. This was the largest number of names added to the wall in a single year with the exemption of 2002 (due to the number of casualties from the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001).
IAFF and Muscular Dystrophy Association
Fire fighters across the nation collect millions of dollars each year in hopes of finding a cure to defeat muscular dystrophy.
What has become a nationwide effort by fire fighters to collect donations started in Boston, Mass.
In 1954 a South Boston fire fighter named George Graney convinced the International Association of Fire Fighters to embrace the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
The IAFF began raising money for research in hopes of eliminating neuromuscular diseases and has collected more than $270 million to date.
Partisan questions
The organization is non-partisan. While it endorsed John F. Kerry for president in 2004, it has endorsed several Republicans. It endorsed the successful gubernatorial candidacies of Charlie Crist (Florida) and Jim Douglas (Vermont), and it endorsed several Republican candidates for the U.S. House and Senate. [3] Examples of the IAFF's endorsement of Republican incumbents in 2006 include Representatives Curt Weldon (Pennsylvania) and John Sweeney (New York).
Relations with Rudy Giuliani
In February 2007, the International Association of Fire Fighters issued a letter accusing Giuliani of "egregious acts" against the 343 New York City firemen who had died in the September 11, 2001 attacks. The letter asserted that Giuliani rushed to conclude the recovery effort once gold and silver had been recovered from World Trade Center vaults and thereby prevented the remains of many victims from being recovered: "Mayor Giuliani's actions meant that fire fighters and citizens who perished would either remain buried at Ground Zero forever, with no closure for families, or be removed like garbage and deposited at the Fresh Kills Landfill," it said, adding: "Hundreds remained entombed in Ground Zero when Giuliani gave up on them."[5] Lawyers for the International Association of Fire Fighters seek to interview Giuliani under oath as part of a federal legal action alleging that New York City negligently dumped body parts and other human remains in the Fresh Kills Landfill.
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