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ON THEGOVER:
IAFF49th Convention
RespectingTradition,Embracing
" "'..20
the Future,...,......,.....,..,....

Workingto Death
Heartattacksremainnumber-onekiller """"""16

Midwest Underwater
theclock
workaround
fAFFlocals """22

TennesseeFire Fighter Wins Retaliation Gase

General President's Message
IAFF GuardianPolicydefendsStephenZachar'.""""""""24 of lssues
OurBasket """"3

GonventionResolutions '..'.....""'34GeneralSecretary'Treasurer'sMessage
A FireFighterFriendlyCandidate """7

Letters to the Editor ."""""""""'9

Local Scene """"""""10

Always On the Frontline """""25

Across the IAFF """""26

Fulfy Involved """""""32

Retirees. """"'48

ln Memoriam/LastAlarm """""50

On The Gover
IAFF 49th Convention
Las Vegas,Nevada
August10-15
-story page 20

JulylAugust 2008
I Local Scene
Martin raisedmore than $2 million' some of his former teammates and
Edgerton Fire Fighters Additionally, three medical organizations colleaguesfrom the National Football
Settle Suit haveagreedto match everydollar Martin Leagu-e,local government officials and
collecti,bringing his total amount raised ,poirorr. Fire fighters, EMT personnel and
ollowing a five-yearlegalbattle,three police also attended.
to at least$4 million.
Edgertonfire fightersand Edgerton, A seriesof medical studies show exposure
Martin saysthe journey waswell worth
WiLocal 580havesettleda union "I about the to Ground Zero has led to serious,
it. wantedto raiseawareness
discriminationlawsuitagainstthe plight of the peopleI call true heroes'the long-term medical problems in thousands
EdgertonFire ProtectionDistrict (EFPD)' hri t.tpottders and the rescueand of rescue workers.
Fire fightersKennethCrandall,Arnold ,".ou.r| workerswho worked unselfishly George Martin was a star defensive end
Lund Jr]and Mark Backeswereterminated and to find the remains
to help savepeople"They and colcaptain of the SuPer Bowl .
in Juneof 2003afterjoining Local580and of others,"hi says. didn't think twice Champion NewYork Giants (1986)' He
demandingcollectivebargainingwith the about helping us. Thkingthis journey was is also a former president of the NFL
EFPD.Onlhe heelsof EFPD'stermination me doing mYPart to helPthem"' PlayersAssociation. r
decision,Local580brought suit under At the finish line celebrationin
Wisconsin'sMuniciPal EmPloYment EmbarcaderoPark,Martin wasjoined by
RelationsAct. The IAFF quickly took on
the caseunder its EmergencyDisputeFund
(EDF) policY,which ProvidesIAFF
memberswith legalrepresentation'
The WisconsinEmploymentRelations
Commission(WERC),the stateagency
chargedwith enforcementof the Municipal
EmpioymentRelationsAct, concludedthe
nfpp actedunlawfully when it refusedto
negotiateover wages,hours and conditions
of"employmentfor its fire fightersand,
instead,unlawfully relied on anti-union
hostility to terminatethem.
The nppp appealedthe WERC'sdecision
to the RockCblnty Circuit Court, wherethe
WERCdecisionwasupheld.The EFPDthen
appealedto the WisconsinCourt of Appeals'
*hi.h alsosustainedthe WERC'sdecision'
The WisconsinCourt of Appealsheld
"substantialevidence"to
that therewas
supportthe WERC'sconclusionthat the
declslonto terminate the three fire fighters
"hostility
was motivated in part by EFPD's
to union activities."
The WisconsinSupremeCourt denied
the EFPD'sPetitionfor review.
Bringingthe matterto a close,the three
fire fi{nters and Local 580 haveaccepteda
settlementof nearly$600,000in backpay
and attorneYsfees.
"It took five yearsto bring justiceto the
Edgertonthree,and we haverighted a very
,.rttt wrongi'saysI.AFF5th District Field
ServiceRepresentative and Local580member
"This is a significantwin for
PatrickKilbutt..
thesethreefire fightersand the entireIAFF
membershipasit demonstrateswhat an
effectiveunion can do to enforcelegd'
protectionsand securejusticefor members"'

RetiredNFL Great Raises

Millionsfor 9-11 Rescuers
Fl etiredNewYork Giantsfootball
H player GeorgeMartin finished his
I lwalk acrossthe United Statesfune
21,2008,atNorth Embarcadero Villagein
")ourney for
SanDiego,California. For his
9-11;'Martinwalkedmorethan 3,200
miles to raisemoney to help provide
health carefor surviving Ground Zero
rescueand recoverYworkers'
JulylAugust200
1OI LOCALSCENE
 RFSOLUTION NO. 13
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT: POLICY
Re Confidentiality of Members' Identities
and SocialSecurity Numbers
WHEREAS,there is a growing problem of
private information and SocialSecurity
numbersbeing usedfor identity theft; and
WHEREAS,the International Associationof
Firefighters(IAFF) is believedto currently send
out rostersthat include member'sSocial
Securitynumbers which constitute a potential
identity theft hazard;and
WHEREAS,private information obtained
from the IAFF and usedcriminally could result
in significant damageto a member and could
result in a lawsuit resulting in a large monetary
award;and
WHEREAS,the IAFF is believedto also
currently require member'ssocialsecurity
number for initial accessto its website;
thereforebe it
RESOLVED,That the delegatesassembledat
the 2008 IAFF Convention in LasVegasdo
herebyrequire that the International
Associationof Fire Fightersimplement the
following proceduresassoon aspossiblein
regardsto the protection of member'sidentity
and SocialSecuritynumber; and be it further:
RESOLVED, That no member'sSocial
Securitynumber shall be sent out or provided
to any local member or local officer other than
the individual member himself/herself;unless
member'sindividual permission is obtained
first: and be it further
RESOLVED,That if the IAFF believesit is
necessary to continueto collectSocialSecurity
numbers,it will do so by sendinga form
requestingsuch directly to the IAFF member,to
be returned directly to the IAFF main office in
Washington,DC, via a supplied SASE;and be it
further
RESOLVED,That the IAFF will investigatethe
feasibility of using somethingother than a
member'sSocialSecuritynumber to register
and log onto its websitefor the first time; and
be it further
RESOLVED,That the IAFF will review its
policiesconcerningthe protectionof member's
private information including their Social
Securitynumbers to ensurethat member
information is not at risk of being
compromised. This shall include making sure
that the leastnumber of IAFF employeeshave
accessto private member information, it is
secure,and that memberinformation on IAFF
computersis appropriatelyencrlpted and
protectedby contemporary security standards.
Submittedby: Local 2}4},Elizabeth, NJ
Cost Estimate:r/z cent
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDAIION:
CONVENTION ACTION:
RESOTUTION NO. 14
COMMITTEEASSIGNMENT: POLICY
Re:Revision of GASB45
WHEREAS,healthcarehasbecomea major
nationalproblem;and
WHEREAS,increasingnumbers of retirees
with reducedor absenthealthcarecoverage
constitutesa considerableportion of that
problem;and
WHEREAS,GASBadopteda standard
requiring the pre-funding of retireehealthcare
38 I RESOLUTIONS
benefitsfor private sectoremployees;and
WHEREAS,the unintended consequenceof
that standardhasbeen increasingnumbers of
retireesleft with little or no healthcare;and
WHEREAS,GASB45 has now becomea
requirementthat affectsfirefightersacrossthe
nation; and
WHEREAS,GASB45 is having an adverse
effecton the bond ratings for firefighter
employers;and
WHEREAS,the bond rating issueis
perpetuatingthe samehealthcaredilemma
createdby GASBcausingretired firefighters
and other local governmentalemployeesto lose
or havetheir healthcarebenefitssubstantially
reduced;and
WHEREAS.thesestandardsmandate
requirementsfor retireehealthcareplans
similar to standardsrequired for funding
retirement systems;and
WHEREAS,healthcareplans are not the same
as retirement plans due to their adaptability to
changingfinancial conditions through the
adjustmentof premiums,deductibles,co-pays,
and program options;and
WHEREAS,the adoption of similar
accountingstandardsfor retirement and
healthcareplanshasprovento be counter-
productive; thereforebe it
RESOLVED,That a top priority of the
InternationalAssociationof Fire Fightersis to
work toward comprehensivereform of
healthcarebenefitsfor retired Firefightersto
includeappropriaterevisionsto GASB45.
Submittedby: Virginia ProfessionalFire
Fighters
Cost Estimate:None
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
CON\TENTION ACTION:
RESOLUTIONNO. 15
COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT: POLICY
Re: PhotoelectricSmokeAlarms
WHEREAS,over 3,000citizensperishin
structural fires acrossthe United Statesand
Canadaeveryyear;and
WHEREAS,in at least300/oof thesefires, it
hasbeendocumentedthat the smokealarms
operatedand in 20o/oof thesefires,the smoke
alarmsweredisabled;and
WHEREAS,there are two principle types of
smokealarmsthat are intended to alert
occupantsof building fires: ionizationand
photoelectricsmokealarms.Ionizationsmoke
alarmspredominantlydetectthe presenceof
extremelysmall particlesof smoke- often
invisible - typical of flaming fires,while
photoelectricsmokealarmspredominantly
detectlarger smokeparticles- alwaysvisible -
typical conditions found at smoldering fires;
and
WHEREAS,researchindicatesthat both
ionizationand photoelectricsmokealarmsare
intendedto provideoccupantstime to escaPe.
However,ionization smokealarms may not
operatein time to alert occupantsearly enough
to escapefrom smoldering fires; and
WHEREAS,current researchindicatesthat
ionization smokealarms detectflaming fires
marginallyearlierthan photoelectricsmoke.
However.ionization smokealarmsare far more
prone to nuisancealarms increasingthe
probability that they will be disabledby
building occupants;and
WHEREAS, photoelectric smoke alarms
detect smoldering fires and fires starting in
areasremote from smokealarmssignificantly
earlier than ionization smokealarms;and
WHEREAS,dual alarms,also called
combination alarms,that contain both
technologiesare availablebut the benefit over
photoelectricin the responseto firesis
marginal. They are more costly,and they will
experiencethe samenuisanceproblem as
ionization smokealarms;and
WHEREAS,asmany fires in residential
occupancies begin assmolderingfires'
particularly when occupantsare sleeping,
photoelectricsmokealarmsprovide more
effectiveall-around detection and alarm than
ionizationalarms;and
WHEREAS,failure to detecta fire and
provide an early alarm placesbuilding
occupantsat risk from an ever-escalating fire;
and
WHEREAS,such escalatingfires placethe
lives of firefightersrespondingto an increasing
risk from such an escalatingfire; and
WHEREAS,the increasein the use of
photoelectrictechnologyhas the potential to
savehundreds of lives eachyear and should be
promoted asthe technologyof choiceby
membersof the IAFF in their homes;and
WHEREAS,IAFF membersshould advocate
for their mandatory requirementfor placement
and use of photoelectricalarms in fire and
building codes,in a manner similar to recent
legislationin Vermont and Massachusetts; and
WHEREAS,the ProfessionalFire Fightersof
Vermont, with the assistanceand technical
experttestimonyfrom IAFF Local718 member
and BostonFire DepartmentDeputy Chief |ay
Fleming successfullylobbied for such
legislationthat on May 29,2008,Governorfim
Douglassignedinto law asthe first in the
nation legislationmandating the installation of
photoelectricsmokedetectorsin all new
construction and at the time of saleof property
in Vermont; thereforebe it
RESOLVED,That the IAFF proposeand
support the mandateof only photoelectric
smokedetectorsin United Statesand Canadian
federallaw, in all state,provincial and local
legislation,and in all standarddevelopment
organizations'building,fire and life safety
codesand standards;and be it further
RESOLVED,That this official LAFFposition
be presentedto the United StatesFire
Administration, the United StatesNational
Institute of Standardsand Technology,the
CongressionalFire ServicesInstitute, the
National Fire ProtectionAssociation,the
International Code Council, the International
Associationof Fire Chiefs,the National
Associationof StateFire Marshals,the Council
of CanadianFire Marshalsand Fire
CommissionersHealth Canada,the Standards
Council of Canada,the United States
ConsumerProduct SafetyCommission,and the
ConsumersAssociationof Canada.
Submittedby: ProfessionalFire Fightersof
Vermont
Local718,Boston,MA
Cost Estimate:None
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION:
CO\IVENTION ACTION:
JulylAugust 2008