IAFF Hires Criminal Attorney
You have the right to remain silent…
The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) must surely advise new local affiliates to always conduct their affairs so that the retention of a criminal attorney would never be needed.
So much for that advice, it must be a case of do as I say, not as I do.
The IAFF has retained Wiley, a sizable DC law firm, to represent them amidst the growing mayhem enveloping Schaitberger, Kelly and the board.
Given Harold Schaitberger’s twenty-year reign of deceit and corruption, there are many reasons why a criminal attorney is in order.
Perhaps some day we’ll find out the specifics.
If your first question is who is going to pay for this, the answer is you are.
Not only did Schaitberger and his motley crew shake us all down, now we get to pay to defend them.
It’s an irony lover’s dream come true.
The True Believers
Schaitberger has a veritable legion of affiliate leaders, state and local, who continue to support and defend his pillaging of the IAFF.
They have aided and abetted the Schaitberger criminal enterprise by defending him again and again.
Some, like California Professional Firefighters president Brian Rice, refer to evidence of misconduct as executive level information, as if we should expect the bosses to rip us off and then keep it secret.
In Rice’s world, if you share information of misconduct, effectively blow the whistle, you’ll be fired.
Rice says these “leakers”, if elected officials, should be recalled; I suggest we just recall the crooks they are leaking about instead.
So much for Brian Rice’s idea of union ethics at work; it’s right out of the Schaitberger playbook.
Phoenix Local 493’s Steve Buerlein is another prominent Schaitberger apologist who dismisses the cascade of evidence as unworthy of attention.
But where Brian Rice delivers his propaganda via video, Buerlein uses a crayon scrawling messages like a nutty neighbor’s yard sign.
Are Rice, Buerlein and others like them stupid, corrupt or a bit of both?
Time will tell but their integrity is looking threadbare.
Well on the Way to Being Broke
In case you are wondering, the IAFF does not have the money to pay for a criminal attorney without borrowing or dipping into reserves which were created for an emergency.
They have already been reserve dipping just to stay afloat.
Secretary treasurer Ed Kelly recently said, “The withdrawals from the [Reserve] Fund were for the following purposes: $1.4 million for the pension obligation, $700,000 to balance the FY2020 budget, and $550,000 for severance payouts.”
They needed to take $700,000 from reserves just to balance the current budget.
Despite all the many (and significant) dues increases during Schaitberger’s rule, they still can’t live within their means.
Schaitberger is like a meth-head who has stolen your credit card number.
The IAFF membership should refuse ANY increase in dues at the upcoming convention.
But Don’t Stop There
Speaking of money, that’s how to get Schaitberger’s attention.
The way for honest IAFF locals and their members to regain control of our failing union is to withhold dues until real change occurs, until an honest leader emerges.
That would get the attention of the flaccid executive board quicker than a thick cut of prime rib.
It’s past time for rank-and-file IAFF members to take back our union from the crooks and thugs by denying increases in dues and withholding dues payments.
Take a stand for honesty and ethics.
