Philly firefighters protest Mayor Nutter at union convention
Members of Local 22 of the International Association of Fire Fighters asked their fellow union members from around the country to help pressure Mayor Nutter on their contact stalemate. The members, wearing red t-shirts that said Philadelphia Firefighers on the back and sported the Gadsden Flag's snake and "Don't tread on me" motto on the back, handed out fliers at two entrances to the Pennsylvania Convention Center as union visitors left the building for lunch.
Philly firefighters protest Mayor Nutter at union convention
Chris Brennan
Members of Local 22 of the International Association of Fire Fighters today asked their fellow union members from around the country to help pressure Mayor Nutter on their contact stalemate. The members, wearing red t-shirts that said Philadelphia Firefighers on the back and sported the Gadsden Flag's snake and "Don't tread on me" motto on the back, handed out fliers at two entrances to the Pennsylvania Convention Center as union visitors left the building for lunch.
The flier read: "Please. We need your help. Philadelphia firefighters have been without a contract for three years, Mayor Nutter refuses to sign the legally arbitrated award. Please ask your delegates to demand that Mayor Nutter sign the award. Thank you and stay safe. Please stand with us!"
Union leader Bill Gault said the flier distribution was not an official Local 22 action. But he seemed pleased with the effort, standing in front of the Convention Center watching the action. As we reported on July 13, Vice President Joe Biden will speak to the conventioneers on Wednesday.
"All I want him to say is: Mayor Nutter, sign the arbitrator's award," Gault said of Biden.
An arbitration panel on July 2 sided with Philadelphia's firefighters by largely upholding terms of a 2010 ruling and giving them retroactive pay raises, more money for health care and protection from furloughs. Nutter has until Aug. 2 to appeal.
Entitlement-palooza....unions are entitled to artifically inflated compensation paid for by taxpayers. The hotel industry should have made every hotel room within 90 miles have a set artifically inflated price of $900 per night for this union pow wow....my guess is that unions would not find that very fair, huh???— kelprod2- Non-union workers and corporations don't inflate prices for services or merchandise. Believe!— GlennboWilson
- "Union leader Bill Gault said the flyer was not an "official" Local 22 action" If you believe that they had no hand in it, I can sell you a bridge for cheap. Welcome to Entitled-delphia. And, Gault and his crying crew are among the worst offenders. Just like this City couldn't survive without a few less fire houses. Looking back, I think we survived that scare as well. The City continues to choke itself with pensions and benefits that exceed the real world. Remember, 75% of these guys have 2nd jobs due to the friendly work schedules they get. Philly unions = don't touch my pension, don't touch my health benefits but don't raise my real estate taxes. At least until they allow firefighters to move out of the City as well...— martycon
- you're darn right the firefighters are entitled. they're entitled to get paid a decent living for the hard life threatening work that they do. I'm sure they do more work in a week than you do in ten lifetimes buddy. — Ryan
- Pretty sure they're already getting paid for the job they're doing. — FatOwlbert
- Martycon: Tell us exactly where you came up with the stat that 75% of the fire fighters have second jobs? Those guys deserve raises for the risks they take on behalf of Philadelphians.— Michael T. Welsh
- the republican plan for fixing the economy: pay all public employees the minimum wage. then we can have a bunch of brain dead drug addicts working for the fire department. better yet, privatize the fire department. then we can have them decide not to put out certain fires because they're not profitable.— Ryan
- A firefighter crew that pick and choose their services will not last in a privatized sector. You need to learn about how true capitalism works. After all, you are living in it. — penncrow19
- what do you mean? it already exists. there are many southern towns that have gone this route and its ended up with houses burning down while the fireman sit and watch.
just look at healthcare coverage. they pick and choose their services. all of them. the more choosy ones are the more successful ones. because once again, they exist to make profits to shareholders, not to provide a service.— Ryan - I despise most unions except for a few (Police, Teachers and Firefighters). Not sure what is going on with their contract situation with the city, but if Nutter is short changing the FFs, then he needs to fix it asap. If septa union workers have a contract, then FF definitely should.— penncrow19
- If someone puts their life on the line everyday to keep the residents of the city safe, they are entitled to have a contract signed.— SHARONANDTONE
- Hey
Penncrow19, you say you despise most Unions. Do you realize without Unions, you wouldn't have weekends, a middle class, vacations, paid holidays, and numerous other benefits that most of us enjoy. I for one, believe Unions serve a huge benefit to the middle class and folks that aren't lucky enough to be born with a silver spoon in their mouth. You would be wise to get educated on facts, before you make silly statements.— jschmitt1950 - unions are the only thing standing between the middle class and complete serfdom.— Ryan
- Look at the cities in CA that have recently declared bankruptcy due to the fact that wages and benefits were eating up roughly 70% of the general budget. The fact of the matter is that we can not longer continue to give cadalic medical plans and for life pension plans at little to no cost per employee.— Taxpaying Voter
- I'm not a big union admirer, but these guys need a contract. Get it done Nutter..just because your cronies, eg. Ramsey, Septa heads, City Council drones, etc. aren't involved is no reason to penalize these men that the city desperately needs.— dogman5
- unions are the main cause of serfdom among people who would like to persue their happyness and thier trade without the threat of some union thug beating them up— Phishface
- Martycon: spoken like a true, liberal POS that probably doesn't live in the city. Last time I checked, I pay my higher property tax, the 8% sales tax if I shop in the city, get wage tax taken out of my check even though I work for the city, and I don't have a second job. We're entitled to our fair wage just as the mayor is entitled to stop breaking the law and honor our award.— southphillyangelo
- Philly can finance a raise if nutter would cut out small hideaway restaurants and late night bowling, i'm sure that savings could finance a contract for some members— the commodore
- They earn their money. Pay them accordingly.— Sixkiller
- Some information for ignorant posters.The flyers at the convention were not union sanctioned. They were informational, and done by a small group of (rightfully) upset Firefighters who have watched Nutter and the City fail to honor it's responsibility to it's employees. Requesting the City to honor it's legal obligations is not 'union thuggery'. (Some idiots love to throw out that phrase anytime they can) It's being responsible and expecting all sides involved to honor their responsibilities.If someone wants to make blanket, un-informed, statements about reducing fire/EMS coverage, they're welcome to it. Those ignorant people will still get a first responder when they need it. They'll just have to wait longer. Blaming the Firefighters for years of the City Administration's policies (company cuts and brown-outs, not hiring for years, intentionally failing to meet fiscal responsibilities) has become routine, both by the Mayor and some residents. Some idiots out there believe it. (HTML deleted)— Mike from Rox
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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