Posts tagged IAFF
Foxx Expands Investigation of Biden-Harris Scheme to Use Pension Assets for Big Labor
July 31, 2024 // “The Committee on Education and the Workforce (Committee) is investigating attempts by the Biden-Harris administration and certain pension funds to leverage retirement assets for the benefit of organized labor. The Internal Revenue Code (Code) makes public pensions eligible for significant tax subsidies if, among other things, their benefits are part of a plan ‘for the exclusive benefit of [an employer’s] employees or their beneficiaries.’ The Committee seeks information to determine whether the law is being undermined by the Biden-Harris administration and violated by certain pension funds. … The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has an obligation to enforce the provisions of the Code to ensure that taxpayers are not improperly subsidizing a retirement plan that does not, in fact, comply with the Code’s exclusive benefit requirement. To the extent that CalPERS is using plan assets for the benefit of social or political causes, the plan’s tax status is no longer valid.”
New Haven Firefighters Win Fight for Independence
June 14, 2024 // The discovery process and UPFFA officials’ depositions revealed that the statewide union had been mishandling members’ dues. In fact, UPFFA’s president had used union money to pay for vacations, expensive meals, baseball games, and other questionable expenses. UPFFA’s treasurer even admitted to knowingly misreporting $20,000 in political action committee funds. In the end, after 130 court filings, Local 825 achieved a ruling that upheld its independence, exposed UPFFA officials’ financial misdeeds, and reached a settlement that required them to pay nothing to the statewide union.
Unionized staff members endorse candidate opposing their current boss at WA state agency
May 30, 2024 // Seamus Petrie, a lobbyist for WPEA, told McClatchy in a phone interview that endorsements from major labor unions in the state are important because they want to make it clear that they “absolutely trust” Emily Randall to be their pro-labor candidate. Randall was endorsed by the Washington Federation of State Employees, the largest state workers union in Washington, and which represents other unionized DNR staff members on April 27. On May 18, Randall also snagged the sole endorsement from the Washington State Labor Council’s Committee On Political Education, and according to reporting by the Washington Observer, union workers at DNR made some key arguments for the endorsement for Randall stemming from concerns over worker safety and low morale at the agency.
Unions, lawmakers protest Boeing firefighter lockout
May 16, 2024 // Earlier this month, Boeing (BA.N), opens new tab locked out about 130 members of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local I-66 who rejected two contract offers - a move that last week drew the concern of President Joe Biden. At a rally outside Boeing headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, IAFF President Edward Kelly, AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler and Representative Val Hoyle urged Boeing to make a deal.
Boeing locks out its firefighters amid union fight for pay
May 6, 2024 // Boeing officially locked out 125 of its Washington firefighters after the firefighter's union failed to come to an agreement with Boeing after two-and-a-half months of negotiations, primarily over pay. This is the first time in over four decades that a group of firefighters have been on a lock out in the U.S.
Wage increases and signing bonuses for city employees will take effect in new year
December 28, 2023 //
Has a Firefighters’ Union Burned Its Members?
April 17, 2023 // New information from a federal court case against the International Association of Fire Fighters-Financial Corporation (IAFF-FC) reveals alleged backroom deals, “kickbacks,” coercion, and greed by IAFF union leaders. The IAFF-FC was chartered as a nonprofit with a fiduciary duty to safeguard firefighters’ finances by offering a plethora of financial services, ranging from auto insurance to retirement with a focus on wealth management. But a recent federal lawsuit filed by John F. Hughes describes a much different reality.
Fire Fighters’ union stops taking millions from muscular dystrophy charity
September 7, 2022 // The change also coincides with new leadership at IAFF, after long-time President Harold Schaitberger declined to run for re-election amid an on-going federal investigation into an alleged union pension scheme. Edward Kelly, the IAFF’s secretary-treasurer during the years IAFF took millions from the charity, was elected union president, but not before facing a challenger who pledged to cease accepting so much money from the charity. Mahlon Mitchell, Greg Markley,
Boston, unions discussing hybrid work options
March 17, 2022 // “The City and its labor partners had a discussion about implementing hybrid work models through collective bargaining,” a city spokesman said in a statement to the Herald on Friday evening.
Biden in Wilmington for labor talks
March 7, 2022 //