I’ve been a Fire Engineering subscriber for more than 50 years. As Bobby Halton said in “Socialists or Capitalists?” (Editor’s Opinion, October 2010), there’s no hard-line correlation between a person’s occupation, union membership, and a person’s politics. Back in 1966, the Santa Clara City (CA) Fire Department union [I have long forgotten the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) local number] asked me to be its bargaining agent. Bargaining in those days was done with the full City Council in open session, and the Council members were reiterating the usual misperceptions about what firefighters do between fires.
The Local had been represented by someone from the Santa Clara County Central Labor Council, but the IAFF local wasn’t happy with the representation received, especially since the negotiator usually wound up agreeing with the misperceptions voiced by the Council members. So the union asked me, because they knew me as a supportive fire buff and a professional within the county. I’d never done anything like that before, but it was a challenge I felt I could meet.
Briefly, by explaining what firefighters do between fires and how what they do saves jobs, businesses, and lives within the community, I got the firefighters the biggest raises they’d ever seen.
Alas, it’s difficult to achieve results like that two years in a row—as I told them and as they found out. We parted amicably, and I referred them to the same labor attorney who represented the police officers. The unique thing about it was that, at the time, I was a member of the Santa Clara County Republican Central Committee, and taking that labor-negotiating assignment flabbergasted the committee members.
I especially appreciated the material on Benny Bache. I was aware of the Alien and Sedition laws, but I’d forgotten about Benny. I looked it up in Nat Hentoff’s The First Freedom, which I read 30 years ago, and Bobby Halton got it precisely right.
I founded a volunteer rehab group in 1969, which still is in operation; our activities can be viewed on our blog (http://fascv.blogspot.com). I’m no longer an officer, since I won’t be around forever. The present officers generally are younger than I. Although I’m long past retirement age, I still work at my profession, respond to fires when we’re called, and come to my office every day.
Leonard W. Williams, CPA
Sunnyvale, California
Re “Socialists or Capitalists?” it is amusing that the editorial rails against socialism when you consider that firefighting in many parts of this country is one of those services directly subsidized by the taxpayer and provided by the state/government—if you prefer, socialism. The timing of this piece was also humorous, considering that it was published in the same month the United States saw freewheeling “capitalistic” principles put in practice when firefighters let a Tennessee family’s home burn to the ground (killing their pets and all) because the homeowner didn’t pay his annual fee. All this gets even funnier when you think that this magazine is bought and paid for (“subsidized?”) by firefighters, many of whom are living on the taxpayers’ dime (“socialism?”), essentially making it a direct beneficiary of “socialism.”
Norman J. Bird
Moroscaine (ME) Volunteer Hose Co.
I read “Socialists or Capitalists?” with great interest. I’m a 37-year veteran of the Philadelphia (PA) Fire Department (third generation). I worked as a firefighter at Engine 68 (averaged 3,500 runs) in West Philly for 8½ years and Truck 24 (averaged 1,700 runs) for 12 years. I made lieutenant and moved to the Fire Prevention Division for 11 years (it started as an injury assignment, and I came to like it). I now serve as the department’s apparatus officer.
I, too, smart from the media portrayal of all union members as socialist-leaning individuals. I’m a pro-life, conservative Democrat. I’m an advocate of a free market economy and a responsible social system. We should not be puzzled, however, about the reasons the world thinks we are socialists. Our International Union is. We donate an awful lot of money to socialist candidates and socialist causes. I have written to the union leadership in protest of this and have never received an answer. No matter what we say, our International’s actions will be taken to speak for us.
I echo Bobby Halton’s sentiments and applaud him for standing up for what I believe all firefighters [should stand for]. Fire doesn’t discriminate or reflect anyone’s values.
Mike Carroll
Captain
Apparatus Officer
Technical Support Unit
Philadelphia (PA) Fire Department
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