I got an e-mail and wanted to share:

in Illinois, a young mother and her two little kids were killed in a t-bone crash Thursday night. The crash took the lives of Amanda Jahn, 27, and her children, Ryan Jahn, 3 years, 11 months old, and Kaitlyn Jahn, 11 1/2 months old....the ENTIRE FAMILY of Dwight (IL) Firefighter Josh Jahn.The driver of the car that struck the Jahn vehicle, Ann Marie Goetz, 43 was transported to the hospital, where she remains a patient....she has already been charged with blowing a stop sign and felony driving while drunk.

Firefighter's Wife, Amanda Jahn, was heading home with her kids. Imagine your family doing that. It's easy-every family does that.

Where were they coming from? Amanda was a violinist...she was on her way back from teaching lessons and had stopped at her Mom & Dad's house to pick up the kids and go home. That's when "Drunk Driver" Goetz's car shot through the stop sign and struck the Jahn family on the driver's side door.

Following the violent t-bone crash, the Jahns car rolled over multiple times.... Amanda was trapped inside the vehicle...the 2 children, Ryan and Kaitllyn were EJECTED IN AND FROM THEIR CAR SEATS...and Mom WAS WEARING HER SEATBELT...but it couldn't save them from the drunk driver. The crash actually ripped the Jahn car apart into multiple pieces.

As we have also heard before, Veteran Drunk Driver Goetz has a lengthy criminal record, including prior DUIs dating back to 2000. Most of us are all very familiar with the impacts of a Firefighters death, in this case, this death will all but take the life of Firefighter Josh Jahn.

3 Quick Points:

1 If you are interested in expressing your condolences, the FD sent us FF Josh Jahns e-mail address, which will be checked and passed along to him....so if you wanna send a few words, here ya go.

jjahn@dwightfire.org

2 The holiday season is just about here. And while we are always at risk on this job, operate on or off the job extra defensively this time of year because of the drunk drivers.

3 Us. "Us" also are familiar with "us" drinking and driving ...mostly off the job, but sometimes even on the job in the firehouse.

Don't ignore it.

Don't allow it.

Speak up.

Stop it.

Know a FF with a problem? Get'm help...do whatever it takes. You into the Brotherhood stuff? Cool. Prove it. We aren't saying don't have a drink when off duty-we are saying if "us" are ever drinking, "we" cannot ever drive. And "we" need to look out for "us".

The on-duty issue speaks for itself, hopefully.

The "drinking" issue-internally or externally has impacted Firefighters throughout our entire history...and again most recently, at the above "firefighters deaths" -the preventable deaths of FF Josh Jahns' Family.
Our sincere condolences to FF Josh Jahn. What a nightmare.

My thoughts exactly. Although this site isn't specific to IAFF, I still want to pass it on. Fire fighter Close Calls, it's like the weekly toll, but specific to first responders, specifically, fire fighters.

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Well, I hope the AFL-CIO doesn't mind me cross posting their stuff, cause I'm going to do it anyway:

The U.S. Senate today moved a step closer to approving legislation that would protect the collective bargaining rights of tens of thousands of firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and other public safety officers.

By a 69–29 vote, the Senate killed a filibuster led by several extreme anti-worker Republican senators against the workers’ rights bill. Eighteen Republicans joined all Democrats in backing the move to end the filibuster. The vote on final passage is expected later this week.

Some 20 states do not fully protect the bargaining rights of firefighters, police officers and other first responders. Two states—Virginia and North Carolina—prohibit public safety employees from collectively bargaining.

With final passage near certain, the only thing that stands in the first responders’ path to securing the workplace rights most other workers enjoy is a veto threat from the Bush administration. But today’s veto-proof vote, coupled with last July’s 314–97 House vote, provides more than the two-thirds majority needed in each chamber to overturn a veto.

Says Fire Fighters (IAFF) President Harold Schaitberger:

More than 80,000 of our brother and sister firefighters in more than 20 states do not currently enjoy basic employment rights. This bill will ensure that every firefighter has the right to collectively bargain.

The bill, the Public Safety Employee-Employer Cooperation Act of 2007 (H.R. 980), guarantees first responders:

The right to join a union.
The right to have their union recognized by their employer.
The right to bargain collectively over hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment.
A mediation or arbitration process for resolving an impasse in negotiations.
Enforcement of the bill’s provisions through the courts.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) says:

Fairness means firefighters and police officers having a voice at the table in life-and-death discussions about their work. They know best how to do their jobs effectively, efficiently and safely. Everyone benefits when they’re given the chance to share that knowledge at the bargaining table.

But last week in a letter to Senate leaders, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff wrote they will suggest that President Bush veto the bill. In addition to the veto threat, the trio wrote that if first responders were allowed to join unions, it would hinder the nation’s ability to respond to terrorist and other threats.

Says AFL-CIO President John Sweeney:

This claim impugns the integrity of first responders who risked and sacrificed their lives on 9/11 and in the aftermath of Katrina. Every one of the 343 firefighters who perished at Ground Zero was a card-carrying union member.

In a May 12 response to the letter by Chao, Mukasey and Chertoff, Schaitberger said:

Your decision to attack the integrity of America’s firefighters cannot be left unanswered. Claiming that the legislation will hinder the nation’s ability to respond to terrorist attacks is both factually inaccurate and offensive. Every one of the 343 firefighters who perished at Ground Zero on September 11, 2001, was a card-carrying union member who enjoyed collective bargaining rights. Most of the responders to the horrific tragedy were not even on duty that day. They simply did what firefighters always do: They put their own safety at risk to save the lives of others.

The same is true of the courageous responders to Hurricane Katrina. Despite losing their own homes and fearing for the security of their own families, union firefighters waded into the toxic floodwaters for days on end searching for survivors. To suggest that their collectively bargained contracts hindered these life-saving efforts flies in the face of reality.

Says Kennedy:

Collective bargaining is good for our national security, and it’s good for public safety officers. These heroic men and women deserve more than just our gratitude and respect. They deserve the right to be treated fairly on the job

The reason this is so important is that even when unions exist for firefighters, they still run into cities and other municipalities screwing them over kind of like the way that Calitics pointed out 2 months ago and CBS also ran a story on it...

Vallejo Fire Department temporarily closed two fire stations on Thursday in a deal with its firefighters union aimed at helping the city avoid bankruptcy, officials said.

>snip<

Firefighters described the closings as a sad situation.

"Everyone's moving, everyone's getting new crews and we're all going to get a lot busier," said Fire Capt. Eric Diaz, who had been working out of station 22.

In addition to the closure of the fire stations, minimum staffing levels will be reduced from 28 firefighters to 22 firefighters per day as well as staffing reductions in Fire Administration, Fire Prevention and Fire Training Divisions, officials said.

From the Vallejo Firefighters local 1186

City Hall has not rescinded the paramedic layoffs - they have simply postponed their decision. Threatening lay-offs is an attempt to force firefighters to agree to the city's demand to reduce Vallejo 's minimum staffing requirement. Even paramedics who may lose their jobs will never agree to cut minimum staffing, because any cuts would jeopardize the safety of their fellow firefighters and the public. Firefighters took this job to protect the public, and they will gladly lose their jobs for the same reason - if City Hall persists in their threats.

To protect the city, we must have a combined total of 28 firefighters scheduled daily. The City wants to eliminate 4 positions per day. This would take us from 28 to 24 firefighters per shift. These cuts mean shutting down the ladder truck, closing additional engines/stations, laying off 13 paramedics, and an emergency services coordinator.

Communities like Vallejo have opted for lower taxes. Maintaining lower taxes means less revenue to pay for necessary services like Fire and Police. As a mom, this isn't an acceptable level of risk for my family.

A few years ago, my 12 year old was propositioned and then touched by a high school student as she walked home from school. The police in DC were so helpful. Although they never caught the kid who did it, my daughter felt like she had a safe place to go and someone she could call if she were in danger again. Not only did a horrible incident bring about her ability to find help and believe in herself, but it also illuminated for her and I the kind of work that our police do on a daily basis.

I won't try to sugar coat the lack of solidarity I see among 1st responders, it's there. They are called on to turn hoses on protests or to arrest demonstrators and I don't think we need to revisit the images of the recent American Axle Strike rally and a Detroit Police Officer chokeholding a woman crossing the street or the vile things he said to the strikers. There's work to do with First responders. Of course, I think the first step is to make sure that they can be represented by a union. Like the fire fighters in Vallejo. If they hadn't had a union, I have no doubt that the staffing numbers would have been further reduced.

When our safety is concerned, isn't it worth ensuring that 1st responders are able to be represented? I think it is. And now, let's work on that darn solidarity thing. Cause I have to also point out here that in typical McCain fashion, he didn't even bother to show up to vote on this. Clinton and Obama both voted yea. That should speak volumes to every American interested in their safety and it should be even more important to Police, Fire fighters and other first responders who often vote Republican. In the end, who's really got your back?


picture credit: local 1186 website

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I've been reading Fire on the Mountain again and a comment linked to Calitics. I've read the site before but never really got hooked by it, I mean, I don't live in California. Higgins mentioned that Calitics had some amazing coverage of an issue that is dear to my heart, so I headed over and was more than amazed, I was hooked.

Ah, those greedy firefighters. How dare they ask for a middle-class income? What gives them the idea that they can extort such wages?

Firefighters say their earnings are high because the department is so short-staffed they're forced to work huge amounts of overtime.

Since 2001, 30 firefighters have retired or left the department, and only three have been hired, said Vallejo fire Capt. Jon Riley, vice president of Fire Fighters Union Local 1186. And after rumors of bankruptcy began circulating, 14 more retired, fearing that their benefits and salaries would be cut, he said.

"We're having to work an extraordinary amount of overtime," he said. "We make great salaries, but if you're not able to see your family, what good is it?"

Firefighters typically work 48-hour shifts with four days off between shifts. Many Vallejo firefighters are now forced to work 96-hour shifts with two days off, he said. Sleep deprivation, divorce and child-care complications are common, he said.

"I'd say morale has hit rock bottom," he said. "But we're still committed to providing the highest level of service to the citizens of Vallejo."

Oh. They mean to tell us that firefighting is hard, grueling work, and that they should get fairly compensated for protecting the community?

To most of us, the firefighters' stand is common sense. Fire protection is something you just don't skimp on - unless you're Orange County conservatives (more on them in a moment). And it's not as if the firefighters are unwilling to help:

Firefighter union President Kurt Hanke told the council that the union reached an agreement late last week with city negotiators for wage cuts that would have reduced Vallejo's deficit to zero. But he said Tanner on Monday vetoed the deal....Leaders of public safety unions say the salaries of police officers and firefighters are high because they must work large amounts of overtime because of staff shortages. The unions have offered to cut the employees' pay if more officers and firefighters are hired.

Instead Vallejo's leaders prefer to play hardball and blame public safety employees for the city's crisis. And unsurprisingly, nobody in Vallejo seems to be discussing a tax increase to stave off these crippling cuts - which will not only compromise public safety, but further damage the city's economy. Firing workers and cutting everyone else's pay is not exactly going to help Vallejo's restaurants and small businesses weather the storm.

So, having read all of this, I went to the IAFF site and was disappointed, there's no mention of this. This city is using first responders as bargaining chips. I wonder if the Farm Bill's IAFF amendment had been passed in December, if this city would still be able to be such asses.

Prior to beginning debate on the Farm bill, the Senate unanimously agreed that each political party would be allowed to offer up to 20 amendments to the bill on any topic they chose, as long as those amendments were approved by a super-majority of 60 Senators. The two leading sponsors of the IAFF’s bargaining bill — Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Ted Kennedy (D-MA) — jointly agreed that the the collective bargaining bill would be offered as a Democratic amendment.

After more than two dozen amendments were debated and voted on, Democrats moved to bring up our amendment. To the surprise of leaders of both parties, anti-labor senators, led by Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Mike Enzi (R-WY), refused to honor the unanimous consent agreement which would allow the Senate to consider the amendment. Additionally, they vowed to engage in parliamentary guerilla tactics to tie the Senate in knots.

Complicating the process, five key Senate supporters of the collective bargaining proposal are spending most of their time in Iowa and New Hampshire as they run for president. DeMint and Enzi knew that the IAFF would have a hard time meeting the 60-vote threshold without Senators Biden, Clinton, Dodd, McCain and Obama. While the presidential candidates had agreed to return to Washington last night, canceling their scheduled events for a significant portion of today to vote on the amendment this morning, there was no way the Senate leadership on both sides of the aisles could put the presidential campaigns on hold to remain in Washington indefinitely.

Of the list of Senators who "supported" collective bargaining rights for firefighters, only McCain is from a right-to-not-work state. Fascinating. He'd go against the will of his constituents in Arizona and support the collective bargaining rights of firefighters? Good thing his freidns DeMint and Enzi stepped in and made sure he didn't have to prove this. How very convenient.

Mr. McCain, if you support collective bargaining rights for firefighters, you should support them for all workers and you should also ensure that first responders aren't painted with a bright red target symbol by city councils.

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