Welcome to the IAFF Frontline News Brief, distributed twice a month to IAFF affiliate leaders and IAFF members. We encourage you to forward this news to your members and others in the fire service.

The Frontline News Brief is delivered directly by email and is also published on the IAFF web site. You can view past issues at http://www.iaff.org/Comm/frontline/news.htm.

Your feedback is also welcome - email pr@iaff.org with questions and comments.
 

"Fire Fighters For Dodd Bus Tour Rolls Through Iowa" (Fire Fighters For Dodd)
"Feinstein Urges San Diego to Improve Fire Department Funding" (California Progress Report)
"IRS Publishes Instructions on HELPS Benefit " (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"More Hispanics, Blacks and Women Pass Firefighter Exam" (New York Times)
"New Mexico Fire Fighters Give Earliest Endorsement in Union's History" (Democracy for New Mexico)
"OSHA Rules Employers Must Pay Cost of Workers' Safety Equipment" (Insurance Journal)
"Atlantic City Gets a New Mayor" (Star-Ledger)
"Arizona Fire Fighters Win Meet and Confer Rights" (International Association of Fire Fighters)
"Firefighters: City Has Created Hostile Workplace" (Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times-Democrat)
"Firefighters, Port Reach Agreement Over Labor Dispute" (KEPR19)
"Local Rescuers Stymied by Today's Sturdier Cars" (News-Press (FL))
"Union Takes Cautious Approach to New Fire Chief" (Workday Minnesota)
"City Fire Fighters' Scandal Isn't Over" (Orlando Sentinel )
"Do Americans Think Your Job Is Prestigious?" (CNN)
"Firefighters Burn the Fat" (Denver Post)
"Refund Fire Pension Cash, City Urged" (Miami Herald)
 

Fire Fighters For Dodd Bus Tour Rolls Through Iowa
Fire Fighters For Dodd

Beginning November 29, IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger will be traveling in Iowa with the Fire Fighters For Dodd campaign for a 20-city, eight-day Bus Tour through the state as part of the IAFF's efforts to encourage members to attend the Iowa Caucus in support of Chris Dodd on January 3. The Fire Fighters for Dodd Bus Tour will travel the state in a 42-foot gold-and-black RV with the Fire Fighters For Dodd wrap. Beginning in Council Bluffs and ending in Des Moines on December 6, Iowa fire fighters along the route will seek to boost support for Dodd from communities throughout Iowa.
(Web Link)
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Feinstein Urges San Diego to Improve Fire Department Funding
California Progress Report (11/27/07); Duerksen, Susan

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein said that city officials must move "vigorously" to end the city's historic under-funding of its fire department or risk massive loss of life in another brush fire. In her opening comments at a hearing of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Feinstein said San Diego lagged behind other major cities in almost all measures of fire protection, including response time and the number of fire fighters and fire stations.
(Web Link)
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IRS Publishes Instructions on HELPS Benefit
International Association of Fire Fighters (11/27/07)

The IRS has published new instructions on how retired fire fighters can take advantage of the Healthcare Enhancement for Local Public Safety (HELPS) benefit on their 2007 tax returns. Last year, the IAFF won an unprecedented congressional victory in the passage of the HELPS retiree health care benefit, a tax-free distribution of up to $3,000 from retirement plans to help retirees pay for health insurance or long-term care insurance premiums.
(Web Link)
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More Hispanics, Blacks and Women Pass Firefighter Exam
New York Times (11/27/07); Chan, Sewell

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and other city officials have announced that 38 percent of the 21,183 applicants who passed the city's fire fighters examination on January 20 are minorities, calling the result "a significant improvement" since the last time the exam was administered, in 2002, when 21 percent of those who passed were minorities. The Fire Department has historically been criticized for having relatively few women, blacks and Hispanics, compared with the far more diverse police department. The city also noted a 50 percent increase in the number of women test-takers who passed: 770 this year, compared with 512 in 2002. According to the city, of the 21,183 test-takers who passed this year, 19 percent were Hispanic, 17 percent were black and 2 percent were Asian.
(Web Link)
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New Mexico Fire Fighters Give Earliest Endorsement in Union's History
Democracy for New Mexico (11/27/07)

All aspects of elections, including endorsements, are now occurring earlier and earlier in election cycles. Take this, for example: Almost three years from before the general election, gubernatorial candidate and Lt. Governor Diane Denish received the endorsement of the New Mexico Professional Fire Fighters Association.
(Web Link)
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OSHA Rules Employers Must Pay Cost of Workers' Safety Equipment
Insurance Journal (11/19/07); Holland, Jesse J.

Over the next six months, employers must prepare to cover the costs for personal protective equipment (PPE), including safety-toed footwear, safety eyewear and other clothing. The U.S. Labor Department and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) finalized a rule proposed in 1999 requiring employers to pay the full cost of most PPE used by workers. Regulators expect employers to become more accountable regarding the PPE choices they make, and studies indicate employers are more likely to maintain and replace equipment when mandated to pay for it. OSHA estimates the costs for providing PPE will reach $85 million, in addition to the partial PPE payments already paid by employers. The agency also hopes the rule will reduce medical and insurance costs for work-related injuries by $200 million as work-related injuries drop by 21,000.
(Web Link)
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Atlantic City Gets a New Mayor
Star-Ledger (11/21/07)

The head of the city's Democratic Party was selected as its new mayor. Scott Evans, a city fire fighter, was chosen by the city council at a special meeting. He will serve until after an election next November. Evans is Atlantic City's third mayor in a little over a month -- a situation that began when former Mayor Bob Levy went missing for two weeks and later admitted embellishing his Vietnam War service to fatten his veterans' benefit check. Evans will take a leave of absence from his job as a battalion chief with the city's fire department to serve as mayor.
(Web Link)
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Arizona Fire Fighters Win Meet and Confer Rights
International Association of Fire Fighters (11/15/07)

A five-year effort by United Mesa Fire Fighters Local 2260 to bring meet and confer rights to Gilbert, Arizona, fire fighters paid off November 13 when the Gilbert Town Council voted 6-1 in support of Town ordinance number 2085 to allow fire fighters and Town management to meet to discuss wages, hours and working conditions.
(Web Link)
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Firefighters: City Has Created Hostile Workplace
Muskogee Daily Phoenix and Times-Democrat(11/14/07); Smoot, D.E.

Members of Muskogee, OK Local 57 have filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the city of Muskogee, Oklahoma. The complaint contests that local fire fighters have suffered from hostile working conditions. According to the union, the city's personnel director, Les Weston, threatened to kill fire fighters if they came near his home. Weston claims his comments were taken out of context and were not directed against any fire fighters. Instead, he says, the threat was a response to recent vandalism in his neighborhood. Before going to the EEOC, fire fighters attempted to settle with the city council at a public meeting. The council rejected the settlement on the grounds it should have been submitted in writing, not at a public forum. In response, Local 57 says it will also register a complaint with the Oklahoma Attorney General because the city is violating the state's Open Meeting Act. This recent struggle is part of an ongoing attempt by fire fighters to reach an agreement with the city on new contract terms. No matter how the EEOC investigation goes, the larger labor dispute will likely be settled by a ballot vote during an election early in 2008.
(Web Link)
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Firefighters, Port Reach Agreement Over Labor Dispute
KEPR19 (11/14/07); Kopta, Chelsea

After a four-year court battle, the fire fighters union and the Port of Walla Walla in Washington have reached a compromise over airport fire fighters. Fire fighters Brent Partlow and Jake Riggs will be transferred to Walla Walla Fire District Number Four. The two fire fighters were previously members of the Aircraft Rescue Firefighter Team stationed at the airport. As part of District Four the two men will be part of the team responsible for the airport. The Aircraft Team is officially defunct, and there will be no fire fighters onsite. The compromise is the result of an ongoing legal battle started when the Port laid off Riggs three years ago.
(Web Link)
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Local Rescuers Stymied by Today's Sturdier Cars
News-Press (FL) (11/23/07); Husty, Denes

In the past few years, car manufacturers have started producing vehicles with reinforced steel frames. These design improvements have done much to make cars safer. Unfortunately, they can also make fire fighters' jobs much more difficult when responding to a car wreck. Often fire fighters have to use massive cutting tools to tear apart a mangled vehicle and reach injured passengers. Many fire fighters have discovered the tools they are currently using are unable to cut through the reinforced steel. This can lead to the loss of precious minutes at a rescue scene.
(Web Link)
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Union Takes Cautious Approach to New Fire Chief
Workday Minnesota (11/18/07); Moore, Michael

When Tim Butler, St. Paul's new fire chief, introduced himself to the public at a media event inside Station 18, he made a point of lavishing praise upon the city's fire fighters, who, he said, "provide the foundation of our rich history and our bright future ahead." Consider it step one in the process of mending a relationship that grew openly hostile under the watch of Butler's predecessor, Doug Holton. Chris Parsons, secretary of Local 21, said two union members, including President Pat Flanagan, sat on the search committee that recommended Butler to Mayor Chris Coleman. Parsons called Butler "by far and away the most qualified candidate for the job."
(Web Link)
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City Fire Fighters' Scandal Isn't Over
Orlando Sentinel (11/16/07); Schlueb, Mark

A cheating probe at the Orlando Fire Department widened when the city's Civil Service Board decided to launch its own investigation. Administrators had closed the books on the case after they demoted two members of the department's top brass who cheated on a 2002 promotion exam. But with more than 100 fire fighters urging them on, the Civil Service Board voted to subpoena the two demoted fire fighters and force them to answer questions about the incident under oath.
(Web Link)
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Do Americans Think Your Job Is Prestigious?
CNN (11/23/07); Lorenz, Kate

According to a recent survey by Harris Interactive, Americans see fire fighters, scientists and teachers as the most prestigious occupations while bankers, actors and real estate agents are the least prestigious occupations.
(Web Link)
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Firefighters Burn the Fat
Denver Post (11/25/07)

With heart attacks the number-one killer of fire fighters, Denver's West Metro Fire Protection District decided to implement a fitness regime that would help fire fighters take off excess weight. Exercise equipment was installed in all of West Metro's stations. A cookbook was developed, and fire fighters began to chart their daily food intake and exercise habits. Since the implementation of the program in 1999, when 72 fire fighters were unable to meet the minimum aerobic standard, things have improved; now everyone is able to meet the minimum standard. In addition, workplace injuries have decreased sharply.
(Web Link)
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Refund Fire Pension Cash, City Urged
Miami Herald (11/27/07); De Valle, Elaine

Florida officials are holding $1.1 million in state pension funds earmarked for the Coral Gables fire union because it says the city should not have collected pension contributions from fire fighters for 16 months several years ago. But the union has asked the city to return about $800,000 in contributions made by fire fighters in 2003 and 2004 so the state will unfreeze the supplemental retirement funds because the fire union is losing interest on that money -- interest that could add up to about $100,000.
(Web Link)
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