IAFF: Cat Out of the Bag
Washington Free Beacon Tells All
A conservative Washington, DC, based online news source has written a thorough accounting of president-for-life Harold Schaitberger’s blatant corruption.
The Beacon says Schaitberger is “facing accusations of corruption and gross financial malpractice…” and cites “$6 million unaccounted for at firefighters union.”
Yuichiro Kakutani, the Beacon writer, a fresh-faced Cornell graduate, gets his facts mostly right though he understates Schaitberger’s haul from the pension scam because he failed to account for annual increases. Kakutani says $878,000, though it has to be well over a million.
No doubt the real purpose of the article is to trumpet the close connection between Schaitberger and Joe Biden, the Democratic front-runner.
Schaitberger’s fraud and corruption is a perfect launching point for the Right’s favorite motif of “Democrats in pocket of corrupt unions.”
We have only ourselves to blame.
Kakutani reached out to Schaitberger and the IAFF, and — big surprise — no one was commenting though Frank Ricci, of Local 825, was.
“If these allegations are proven true through the appropriate due process, Harold A. Schaitberger, General President, should be removed from office. Kelly talks about ‘turning over couches’ to find money, I think it’s time to turn over the couches and chase the rats out,” he said.”
IAFF district vice-presidents, the theoretical executive board tasked with overseeing the union, is now squeezed from below by an increasingly outraged membership and from above by Schaitberger who will do anything to save his cushy deal.
District vice-presidents have never demonstrated the ability (or the courage) to take Schaitberger on where his criminal activities are concerned; now, with the IAFF convention just months away, they appear to have little choice.
The district vice-presidents need to drop the phony “attorney-client” privilege excuse and tell the membership what they know and what they are doing.
We have a right to know.
The Beacon article is here.
For more coverage see:
https://medium.com/@lamarericslamar/schaitberger-bankrupts-pension-fund-3c48c4a275a7
Tell your vice-president to end the corruption now.
New York, New Jersey: jslevin@iaff.org
Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska: mwoolbright@iaff.org (314) 393–9755
Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont: jcolbert@iaff.org (617) 307–8076
Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia: akpantelis@iaff.org (301) 674–3448
Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin: tthornberg@iaff.org
(612) 290–8015 (Cell)
Alberta, British Columbia, Northwest Territory, Saskatchewan, Yukon:
mcarter@iaff.org
Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Washington: rwalsh@iaff.org
(509) 999–3090 (Cell)
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio: msanders@iaff.org
(513) 260–2381 (Cell)
Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming: rrahne@iaff.org
(303) 619–2462 (Cell) (303) 988–0177 (Home)
Arizona, California, Hawaii, New Mexico, Guam: flima@iaff.org
(213) 507–6317 (Cell) (213) 485–2091 Ext 1 (Office)
Canal Zone, Oklahoma, Texas: smcghee@iaff.org (918) 855–8228 (Cell)
Caribbean Area, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina: wdix@iaff.org (954) 444–8111 (Cell)
Manitoba, Ontario: fleblanc@iaff.org (613) 328–2195 (Cell)
Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee: dtodd@iaff.org
(901) 386–3129 (Office)
New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec
dburry@iaff.org (709) 744–2709 (Home) (709) 689–7574 (Cell)
All federal fire fighters of the United States and Canada: jjohnson@iaff.org
(202) 360–1318 (Cell)
