Monday
Mar162009
Lawmakers meet with Fire Fighters Union
Monday, March 16, 2009 at 1:19PM
By Michael Ruhl, University of New Mexico - Talk Radio News Service
Today Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) addressed the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Legislative Conference about the importance of collective bargaining. Pelosi awed at “what a difference an election makes” in addressing workers’ rights as well as their right to organize. Union representatives said that the Obama Administration is much friendlier to unions than the Bush Administration was, and is looking forward to the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Pelosi hammered home her commitment to that bill, and highlighted how the Economic Recovery Package provided billions of dollars to help prevent job loss in the public safety sector.
Also speaking at the event was Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), who showcased his support for the Fire Fighter Fatality Reduction Act. The proposed law would set national requirements at fire stations for staffing, training, and equipment, moves that Lieberman believes will save lives. Additionally, Lieberman said he supports a national credentialing program for fire fighters, to make sure those responding to emergencies are properly trained to meet the national requirements he hopes are created.
Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) talked to the crowd about the Federal Firefighter Fairness Act, which would create a “rebuttable presumption” that certain diseases contracted by fire fighters are "job related”, and thus subject to compensation programs. Collins said that this would apply to federal fire fighters, because it was "fundamentally unfair" that federal fire fighters would not be able to receive the same health protection as those on the state and local level.
Both Collins and Lieberman spoke in support the right of workers to bargain collectively.
Vice President Joseph Biden is scheduled to speaker later today at the event.
Today Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) addressed the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Legislative Conference about the importance of collective bargaining. Pelosi awed at “what a difference an election makes” in addressing workers’ rights as well as their right to organize. Union representatives said that the Obama Administration is much friendlier to unions than the Bush Administration was, and is looking forward to the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. Pelosi hammered home her commitment to that bill, and highlighted how the Economic Recovery Package provided billions of dollars to help prevent job loss in the public safety sector.
Also speaking at the event was Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), who showcased his support for the Fire Fighter Fatality Reduction Act. The proposed law would set national requirements at fire stations for staffing, training, and equipment, moves that Lieberman believes will save lives. Additionally, Lieberman said he supports a national credentialing program for fire fighters, to make sure those responding to emergencies are properly trained to meet the national requirements he hopes are created.
Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) talked to the crowd about the Federal Firefighter Fairness Act, which would create a “rebuttable presumption” that certain diseases contracted by fire fighters are "job related”, and thus subject to compensation programs. Collins said that this would apply to federal fire fighters, because it was "fundamentally unfair" that federal fire fighters would not be able to receive the same health protection as those on the state and local level.
Both Collins and Lieberman spoke in support the right of workers to bargain collectively.
Vice President Joseph Biden is scheduled to speaker later today at the event.
Biden burns down the house with Fire Fighters Union
While speaking before an eager crowd at the International Association of Fire Fighters Union Conference, Vice President Joe Biden said that the Obama Administration is committed to helping public safety officials do their jobs more safely. Biden says that he understands that an inherently dangerous profession such as fire fighting can never be made completely safe, but we can make it “safer than it is today.” Biden quoted a study from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, saying “the lack of staffing is the key cause of fire fighter fatality” and that to help make the first responder’s jobs easier and safer, they must be provided with better equipment, more fire fighters, and better training.
The Vice President said to rousing applause that The Public Safety Employee Cooperation Act, which was “blocked” by former President George W. Bush, will be signed into law by President Obama, and will “institutionalize that respect” which the public holds for them. He said that it is in “our nation’s own naked self interest” to take care of those that defend us and that when the fire fighting community is stronger, the rest of the community is safer.