STATter 911

Dave,

Good morning. I am a paid Asst. Chief with a local fire department in SC. I recently read the remarks by the president of the IAFF. His remarks regarding Mr. Bowie and our great state were deeply disturbing.

How is it that the IAFF feels the need to believe they are the dictator of how any firefighter funeral should be held? Being the IAFF does NOT make them the GOD over how everyone in this great nation honors their fallen firefighters. For them to condemn the tremendous effort at this point in time when the grieving process is only just begun is horrendous, and a very saddening assault upon those who gave their best to make the funerals the best they could be.

In regards to Mr. Bowie, I have known him for most of my 30 year career. Mr. Bowie is one of the most progressive thinking individuals this states fire service has. We are fortunate to have a man of his caliber leading the SC State Firefighter’s Association which consists of both paid and volunteer personnel. I find the attack on Mr. Bowie to be one filled of lies and just another case of the president of the IAFF being dead wrong on his remarks.

The president of the IAFF should be embarrassed and held accountable for his words. I'm outraged that the president of the IAFF would assault Mr. Bowie and this state, especially while we still grieve for our brothers, for holding a memorial service in a fashion the people of this area wanted. The president of the IAFF can go to hell!
 

As a paid firefighter, but not a member of the IAFF, I'd just like to point out that the City of Charleston looks down on other paid and volunteer fire departments, not just their own members, 100 of whom are organized.

The City of Charleston has many issues to contend with in the coming weeks including explanations of the actual fire attack itself.

We owe the deceased a full and in-depth look at the entire situation, not just a memorial.
 

While I too believe that the Charleston officials have screwed this up big time, I also believe that the IAFF is only spouting their normal anti-volunteer propagada. SC is one of the most backwards states when it comes to firefighting standards, true. But the IAFF has made a major PR booboo by issuing this letter so close to the memorial.
 

Helloooooo;

If this isn't a sorry state of affairs . IT RREMINDS ME OF THE RESCUE SQUAD FEVOR IN THE 60's and 70's .

DO NOT forget the Reason .......

Show some RESPECT and put aside your politics .

NINE ( 9 ) of the Bravest have met their demise doing what we do !
 

Dave,

I am totally saddened that what appears to be political bickering by both sides of this issue are keeping us from the sad fact. This week we lost nine of our brothers in the line of duty. As a member of IAFF, I more than anyone would have liked to have attended and participated in some way in remembering our fallen comrades.

In a tragedy such as this one, I think it more important that we come together, not from the standpoint of union vs non-union, or I'm right and you're wrong...but as those grieving the loss of heroes and brothers.

We all should have come together as one united body to be able to pay final respects for the fallen not not soil their memories by this pointless bickering and grandstanding. These actions and comments soil what those men stood for, and what we do on a daily basis when we put on that uniform. For shame City of Charleston. For shame Mr Bowie. And for shame on the IAFF. For not acting as reasonable adults and compassionate human beings.
 

WOW, Unbielievable. I am a Battalion Chief in South Carolina with ties to the Charleston Fire Department and participated in many of the events surrounding the fallen firefighters in Charleston.
I would like to start by stating a few facts.

The union has little power in the State.

The Charleston FD does not bargain with the union nor do the majority of departments in this state.

The memorial service was a true celebration of the firefighters that gave their lives in the line of duty.

Any negative comments in reference to the service is disrespectful to the dead.

Does it really matter if the fallen firefighters were members of the union or not? Who cares!!!

The memorial service was the responsibility of the Fire Chief and he handled it accordingly.

As far as the union getting upset about this, please get over it. Im sure that when the CFD fireman that elected to be members of the union see this they will cancel their memberships. Im not sure if any of these 9 men were members of the union and I dont really care. The union may have lost a member but I know for a fact the Charleston Fire Department isnt a club its a family your not a member you a brother. The union needs to respect the Departments wishes. Its great that the union offered their assistance but if the CFD didnt want it there is no need to bash them nationally about the way they handled the department service.

Battalion Chief Justin Gibbins
Battalion22@battalion22.com
 

I concur with Paul. Many of the comments you make about Bowie are incorrect -- including the name of the association that he is employed by as Executive Director, not "President." If that is typical of your attention to detail, SC did OK without your input. My department had several members attend the memorial service and provide transportation for one family of a fallen Charleston FF on Friday. The family, nor my members, had any complaints about the memorial service.

Jack Abraham, EdD; Fire Chief
Anderson City Fire Department
 

I'm deeply saddened to see the unfortunate loss of life in Charleston being used as a political soapbox for about whether people are union supporters.

I'm fairly certain the family and friends of the fallen heros could care less whether the IAFF coordinated the funeral.

From what I saw of the memorial, I felt it was a very touching and heartfelt goodbye to these brave men.

In the future please do not use such unfortunate circumstances as a means for airing your thoughts onwhether someone is pro or anti union. It is rather childish.
 

Dave. I am a ff from sc. Iam presentlt sitting in the airport ib chas picking up ron sarinicki to meet with some of the families. I heard about the comments made by union president. I will briefly give you my thoughts 1) this level of arrogance on his part is a big reason that the iaff has so little support here. 2) the memorial service was very good. 3) the most important thing you need to realize is that the funerls are not over yet! We are taking care of these families and will continue to do so regardless of any affiliation, or lack of, with any of the nine.
 

Mr. Statter,

First, thank you for your condolences. The families and firefighters in
Charleston, across South Carolina, the Southeast, the nation and the world
truly suffered another great loss last Monday. We will all have heavy
hearts for some time to come.

I am a Fire Chief in Fort Mill, SC just below the SC/NC state line. My
Town is just below Charlotte NC. I have been involved in the fire service
since 1987 and have been Chief of the Department since 1995. I was a
volunteer until 2004 and am now full-time. I am also an appointed member
of the Executive Committee for the SC State Firefighter's Association. I
chair the Audit Finance Committee for the Association. I am currently in
Charleston, SC finishing the great work done before me in the Finance
sector of the command post with the state mobilization folks, which was
established for the Memorial Service and the funerals. I was born in New
York State, raised in Allentown, PA and graduated from college in Boston,
MA. I moved to SC in 1982 and without hesitation call this my home now.
I married a South Carolina belle in 1985 and have three children.

I wanted to give you that little bit of history to let you know that I
grew up around Unions/Locals with Mack Truck and Bethlehem Steel in PA.
My grandfather was a steel worker in Baltimore, MD and as a child I would
go to "the local" with him all the time.

I was absolutely floored to read Schaitberger's comments. I was at the
Memorial Service on Friday and in fact sat a couple of rows behind
Schaitberger. I did not meet him, and based on his comments do not want
to. I have never read such self serving, whining, and misinformation
dribble in all my life. He really ought to be ashamed of himself. The
last funeral was today locally and one more tomorrow in Indiana. I did
find it interesting that he mentions in his first paragraph that "we are
hearing from our leadership....doesn't seem to be very organized....etc".
HE WAS THERE!!!! I wonder why he didn't say that he thought it was not
organized.

IAFC President Chief Jim Harmes, who I had never met, saw my shoulder
patch had SC on it and came up and spoke to me about what a tremendous
Memorial Service it was and that God forbid, if he ever needed help with
something like this, he would like to call us for guidance.

Schaitberger obviously has a burr in his saddle with South Carolina, the
Mayor and Fire Chief of Charleston and Jim Bowie, the Executive Director
of the SC State Firefighter's Association (not President of the state
volunteers association as Schaitberger incorrectly stated). Jim Bowie,
prior to becoming the Exec. Director of our state association was a
lobbyist for the firefighter's association in our statehouse. NO ONE has
fought harder for the safety of the firefighters in this state than Mr.
Bowie. We recently built a new association building and Jim insisted it
be sprinkled even though it was not required. I have sat in meetings over
the past three years and dealt with the issues of firefighter safety,
training and sprinkler systems in building across this state and I can
assure you there is not bigger advocate than Jim Bowie. I don’t know
where Schaitberger got his information, but he is wrong.

The last correction I'd like to comment on is Schaitberger's mention of
Giuliani. Mayor Riley advised everyone that the only political speaker
would be President Bush, if he chose to attend. Jim Bowie DID NOT try to
get Giuliani on the podium nor wanted to turn it into a political
platform. Schaitberger, I understand, brought with him a couple of
candidates and would have LOVED to use it for a platform. It is really a
shame the IAFF has such a president that would dishonor the firefighters,
criticizing the memorial service for his own agenda even before they are
all buried and the families have a little piece of closure.

I am not even going to comment on Schaitberger's comments on the pipe and
drum bands other than to say that a number showed up, without calling and
letting anyone know they were coming and they were given a venue in which
to play. Had the planning folks knew they were coming, they would have
been more than welcome to have a more integral part in the service.

I was very angry when I read his comments and perhaps I am venting to you.
I appreciate you allowing me to "bend your ear", but I felt obligated to
state some truths on this subject.

Ken Kerber
Fire Chief
Town of Fort Mill
South Carolina
 

The memorial service was superb.

Once my last brother is put to rest tommorow it will be time to look very hard at our chief, assistant chiefs, and the decisions they made prior to and during this horrific event.

Many things are coming to light that will sadden any member of any department in the country.

But my brothers and I carry on. We do our jobs because we love it. We are just hopeful that NIOSH and OSHA expose the bitter truth about the operation and the lack of tactical understanding and training. Most of us don't care about union/non-union. We care about 9 men who were sent to their deaths.

For those of you singing the fire chief's praises I implore you to wait until the truth comes out. If you don't you will find you have compromised your own honor.
 

Dave

Let's look at Harold Schaitberger's lament in perspective. The memorial service following every multiple fatality incident involving career firefighters in the past 20 years has turned into an IAFF media event. (Look at the tapes from Worcester, Pittsburgh (twice), Memphis, Winnipeg, Yellowknife, Chesapeake, FDNY, ...)

Why? Because within 12 hours after the occurrence, the choreography team from IAFF-HQ arrives and starts telling everyone how it's going to happen. And they are usually met with open arms by the local union officials, who are in a state of shock and ready to accept any assistance or direction from above. Then they go see the fire chief who is also in a state of shock and explain to him how the memorial service will be conducted. Does he have a better plan?

The star speaker, who appears live on national TV if the death toll is high enough, will be the General President of IAFF. And along with him comes the IAFF's favorite politician or endorsed candidate of the day, to get some free national TV exposure standing next to Harold and expressing support for firefighters. And the whole event becomes an IAFF media opportunity that can be used to impress all of the IAFF members in all of the IAFF locals from coast to coast.

So here we have an incredible 9-fatality opportunity (that coincides with the early stages of a presidential campaign) and it happens in South Carolina of all places. Talk about bad luck! It happens in a right to work state with no collective bargaining for public employees, where only about 1/3 of the eligible career firefighters even bother to belong to IAFF. It's just not fair!

While all of the other national organizations send their representatives to Charleston and ask "What can we do to help?" the boys from IAFF show up and start telling everyone how it is going to be done. And, when the South Carolina folks say "Thanks for the offer, but we think we have everything pretty much under control, thanks to our NFFF-trained team of South Carolina fire service people," everyone else says "That's great, we will just stand-by to help you in any way we can." and the whole show gets put together and everyone is satisfied except Harold and his guys who were snubbed.

Instead of admitting to their members that IAFF is not big in South Carolina, so IAFF won't be running this show, they start a smear campaign against everyone and everything that is offensive to them. Those South Carolinians are nothing but a bunch of ignorant, low-life, volunteer-loving, scum-sucking, anti-safety, anti-union, irresponsible sons-of-bitches and they even offended all the pipe bands except the FDNY Emerald Society and they even allowed a Republican presidential candidate into the auditorium. (Hilary must have been livid!)

Ask someone from IAFC or any other organization if they were shut out of the process or thanked for their gracious offer of assistance. It's just a nuance, but it depends who is telling the story.

I am offended by the memo from Harold Schaitberger, but not surprised. It's not the first time and it won't be the last.
 

Greetings,

When the fire at the Sofa Super Store took place in Charleston, SC, the news that nine of our own brothers had died was stunning. How is it possible? What went wrong?

In order to answer these questions, in a forum wherein good old boy politics doesn't obstruct arriving at the truth, we set out to give our own thoughts on the tragedy. We are certain that absen this step, the hard questions won't be asked.

Thus, we ask you to visit this blog, to grieve with us, to understand and further to learn what set the stage for this awful event.

Respectfully,


http://charleston9.blogspot.com/
 

Dave,

I am the Acting Director of the South Carolina State US&R Program and well-versed in what is going on in our state. In regard to this issue, I am not going to engage in less than productive discussion of the perceived slight to the IAFF in the wake of the Charleston tragedy; I don't know how the IAFF came to the conclusion that they are the sole arbiters of LODD memorials, but given the "facts" stated in Mr. Schaitberger's letter, I'm not sure the whole issue isn't a personal attack against Jim Bowie, who has been a staunch supporter of the fire service in this state for as long as I have been in the fire service here, which is for the last 25 years.

If it were not for Jim, the fire service in South Carolina would be much less than what it is. I began my career in Pennsylvania and I travel to many other states and work with many other departments in the course of my work, and it may seem easy to bash South Carolina, but with few exceptions, the other state fire services aren't much better when it comes to dysfunctional and counterproductive behavior. It seems to me to be a fire service trait that we just can't shake.

Mr. Bowie has helped institute some great changes in our state in the short time he has been the Executive Director of the State Firefighters' Association. I'm afraid I don't know Mike Parrotta and so I don't even know what to say about his concerns. But for anyone to question Jim Bowie's leadership and motives stinks to me of a vendetta and honestly, doing that is bad, but doing it while the funerals of brother firefighters are occurring is just beyond description.

Mick Mayers
Acting Director, SC US&R Task Force
 

Schaitberger’s and Parrotto’s comments and actions are appalling in regards to the Memorial Service for the Charleston 9. It is quite apparent that from the moment Parrotto and the IAFF contingency arrived in Charleston they had a political agenda. The terms that keep running through my mind regarding these representatives of the IAFF are carpetbaggers and scalawags.

Even before the smoke cleared and the ashes settled Parrotto was making comments that appeared not only in print but all over the internet. These comments should have been made after the memorial service at least out of respect for the fallen firefighters and their families. I can only imagine the added anguish his comments caused those grieving families.

As for the IAFF contingency, they sauntered in a day and a half after the incident expecting to take control of organizing the memorial service. They were miffed when Mayor Riley and Chief Thomas deferred them to the SC Firefighters Association and its Executive Director Jim Bowie. Members of the SC Firefighters Association as well as Jim Bowie were on the scene within hours assisting the families and their fellow firefighters. It would only be natural for Mayor Riley and Chief Thomas to assign the coordination of this monumental task to the SC Firefighters Association……especially since they have been serving South Carolina firefighters for over 101 years. Parrotto and Schaitberger took this as a slap in their faces attributing it to the City of Charleston being an “openly anti-union city.” If I’m not mistaken the entire state of South Carolina is “openly anti-union.” This probably accounts for why 16,000 firefighters out of the state’s 17,000 are members of the South Carolina Firefighters Association.

The IAFF and Schaitberger’s political agenda and pettiness came to light in a letter that was written and sent out to locals before the last fallen firefighter was even laid to rest. His letter pointed out how IAFF officials requested that the service be held at a later date so more firefighters (IAFF representatives) could be present but the request was denied. That none of the IAFF officials were given VIP sitting and that they would’ve certainly had more pipes and drum bands performing.

Obviously Schaitberger missed the whole point of the memorial service. This service was to honor those nine fallen firefighters and their families. It was a means for the Charleston Fire Department, the City of Charleston and the state of South Carolina to begin its grieving as well as healing process. To have prolonged this service would have been unbearable for the families and the South Carolina firefighting community…….it had nothing to do with politics.

There was a time that unions and their leaders did great things for the people they served and this country. Unfortunately as the years have passed many people have begun to question the usefulness of unions. The Bureau of Labor statistics indicate that in 2006 only 12% of the nation’s work forces were union members. In the state of South Carolina that statistic was only 2.2%. Also between 2005 and 2006 labor unions lost 326,000 members. Unions may have outlived their purposefulness, especially if other union leaders are resorting to the same type of tactics that Schaitberger and Parrotto exhibited during this tragic event.
 

As an IAFF Career firefighter with 17 years on the job, I have only two things to say:

1. There were only 9 men that mattered that day.

2. I am embarrasseed to have anything to do with the IAFF after Schaitberger's comments.
 

Open letter to the public safety forces of South Carolina

Dear brothers and sisters in Police, Fire, and EMS:

Legislation working its way through the U.S. House of Representatives[1][2] that directly pertains to all of us. It’s called H.R. 980, The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007,[3][4] and it would establish minimum standards for state collective bargaining laws for public safety officers, including:[5]

* The right of public safety officers to bargain over wages, hours, and working conditions
* A dispute resolution mechanism, such as fact finding or mediation (not the so-called “grievance procedure” we have now)
* Enforcement of contracts through state courts

This would be real job security for you, and your family. Collective bargaining is something that the vast majority of the public safety forces in the country already enjoy. It’s the formal recognition that each of us deserves, because we put our lives on the line for our community. The International Labor Organization (an agency of the United Nations) and many scholars have suggested that collective bargaining is a fundamental human right.[6][7] Public employees do not have access to collective bargaining in South Carolina.[8][9][10] That's because South Carolina is an employment-at-will state, which means that an employee can be fired at any time, for any reason, or no reason at all. That should not come as a surprise to most of you, because your employer has probably asked you to sign a memorandum of understanding to that effect, first when you were hired, and more recently after the Employee Handbook Law was passed, which made it even easier for you to be fired.[11][12] Public safety employees have no job security in the State of South Carolina, but H.R. 980, The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007 promises to change all that.

When a similar bill was proposed in 2002, the Municipal Association of South Carolina sent a memo to every City Manager and clerk in the State, urging them to ask their local members of Congress to oppose the bill.[13] That should also come as no surprise. It goes against human nature to give up control. But how did we get here? Why are the public safety forces so powerless in South Carolina? A little research reveals that powerful business interests, led by the Chamber of Commerce, have lobbied extensively against unionization and collective bargaining rights in several southern states including South Carolina.[9][14][15][16] According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, North Carolina and South Carolina are tied for last among the states for the percentage of workers that are union members at 3.3 percent.[17] That might be the reason that Presidential Candidate Rudy Giuliani seems to spend so much time with firefighters in South Carolina. Aside from the obvious political importance of South Carolina’s early primary, the leadership of the IAFF can’t stand him.[18] Only in a state like South Carolina can a politician like Congressman Joe Wilson score political points by passing out special awards to firefighters[19] without fear that an organized state firefighters union will confront him with the fact that he led the charge for the National Right to Work Act in 2003.[20] In South Carolina, politicians answer to business interests. That’s because labor is hopelessly disorganized. Here’s a perfect example. When H-3176 was passed in 2002, applying the State's right-to-work laws to public employees,[21] (as if our at-will status and prohibition against collective bargaining wasn't enough), where was the South Carolina Firefighters Association? They were conspicuously silent on the issue. After the tragedy in Charleston this past June, we saw the open hostility between the SCFA and IAFF on Dave Statter's public safety blog, Statter 911.[22] Whether you agree or disagree with the City of Charleston's decision to run their own memorial service, the sharp and perhaps ill-considered comments of IAFF President Harold Schaitberger didn't change the fact that whatever the virtues of the SCFA, they do not adequately represent the interests of career firefighters in South Carolina.

It’s time that we took our careers, our lives, and our department’s future into our own hands. I encourage all of you to contact your representatives in the U.S. House and Senate, and tell them you are a police officer, firefighter, paramedic, or EMT; that you want recognition for the sacrifice you make for your community, and that you want the freedom to speak out without fear of being retaliated against or fired. Tell them you’ve earned the right to sit down with your employers as an equal, in a spirit of mutual respect, with the best interest of your community at heart, because you’re the one on the front lines, risking your life to save the lives of strangers. More importantly, I want you to look around at your brother and sisters in the public safety forces, because they are your second family. United we stand, and divided we fall.

Previous versions of the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act narrowly missed a 60-vote super-majority in the U.S. Senate,[23][24] but that was under Republican control. Now both houses are under Democratic control. This Bill has an excellent chance of passing, and it's hard to imagine that even President George W. Bush would veto a firefighter bill in an election cycle.

We know where we’ve been. Now the question becomes, where do we go from here? The future is whatever we make it.

Best regards,
FirefighterSC@gmail.com

Notes

1. ^ "House Panel Approves IAFF Bargaining Bill," International Association of Fire Fighters
2. ^ "Collective Bargaining Rights for Public Safety Workers," The Gavel - Speaker Nancy Pelosi's blog, June 20, 2007.

By an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 42-1, the House Education and Labor Committee today approved legislation to guarantee the rights of firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical service workers in all 50 states to collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions.

"The brave men and women who risk their lives each day and serve as our first line of defense against medical emergencies, criminals, natural disasters, and terrorist attacks deserve the right to bargain with their employers," said Rep. George Miller (D-CA), chairman of the committee.

"Our firefighters and police officers put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe. This was tragically demonstrated Monday night by the nine firefighters killed in a furniture warehouse fire in Charleston, South Carolina," said Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI). "Unfortunately, some states in this country deny our public safety employees the basic right to discuss workplace issues with their employers – a right many Americans take for granted. My bill would grant these brave men and women this right. We owe it to them."

"The committee’s nearly unanimous passage of the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007 marks a historic moment for the first responders of our country, who are the heroes of our nation," said Rep. Rob Andrews (D-NJ), chairman of the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions. "Today we honor the brave men and women who put themselves first by providing them with the indisputable right to collectively bargain. I am happy to be a supporter of this important piece of legislation and look forward to its passage on the House floor."

3. ^ "H.R. 980, The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007," WashingtonWatch.com
4. ^ "H.R. 980: To provide collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or their political subdivisions," GovTrack.us
5. ^ "Collective bargaining - legislative fact sheet," International Association of Fire Fighters
6. ^ Hoyt N. Wheeler, (2000) "Viewpoint: Collective Bargaining Is a Fundamental Human Right," Industrial Relations, Volume 39; Issue 3: pp. 535-539.
7. ^ "UN Labor Panel Finds U.S. in Violation, Calls for Repeal of NC Bargaining Ban," United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, April 3, 2007.

In a strongly-worded decision made public today, the International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations, issued an unprecedented call for the United States to "promote the establishment of a collective bargaining framework in the public sector in North Carolina," and called specifically for the repeal of North Carolina General Statute § 95-98, the state law that prohibits public employee collective bargaining.

The complaint charged the U.S. with failure to uphold its obligations, as a member state of the ILO, to protect the internationally-recognized rights of public employees in North Carolina to freedom of association and collective bargaining. North Carolina General Statute § 95-98 prohibits collective bargaining and declares any agreement between a labor union and any city, town, county, or the state to be illegal and null and void. The union alleges in the complaint that, by failing to take actions to overturn this law, the U.S. government is violating international law and ILO rules. The ILO’s decision sustains these charges.

8. ^ (2000) "Branch v. City of Myrtle Beach," South Carolina Supreme Court

Unlike private employees, public employees in South Carolina do not have the right to collective bargaining. See McNair Resolution, H. 1636,1969 S.C. Sen. Jour. 826 (April 5, 1969); 1969 House Jour. 942 (April 30,1969); see also Dennis R. Nolan, Public Employee Unionism in the Southeast: The Legal Parameters, 29 S.C. L. Rev. 235, 287 (1978). As a result, even if the right-to-work statute applied to public employment, significant aspects of the statute would be totally irrelevant.

9. ^ a b "The South Carolina Governance Project - Interest Groups in South Carolina," Center for Governmental Services, Institute for Public Service and Policy Research, University of South Carolina

South Carolina has long been one of the least unionized states in the nation. In 2000 the state ranked 49th with 4 percent unionized, only slightly ahead of North Carolina. As a result, organized labor has relatively less clout in the state than in most other states. One of the main goals of powerful business groups such as the Chamber of Commerce has been to keep labor unions out of the state, and they have been quite successful in their efforts. A major tool in weakening efforts to unionize the labor force has been the "right-to-work" laws, passed more than 40 years ago. These laws outlaw the "closed shop," which would force all workers to join a union when a majority of workers vote to be represented by the union. The idea behind the closed shop is to prevent what is called "free riders," that is, workers who benefit from union contracts without having to pay to support the union efforts.

Even public employee unions, which, unlike private sector unions, have been growing nationally, are limited in South Carolina. State government does not engage in collective bargaining with public employees and prohibits strikes. S.C. Code (Section 8-11-33) only allows dues for the State Troopers' Association and State Employees' Association to be withheld in paychecks if they do not engage in collective bargaining or encourage members to strike. The simultaneous strikes by public school teachers and university professors in Hawaii in the spring of 2001 that ultimately led to double digit pay increases simply could not take place in South Carolina.

10. ^ (1985) "State employee bargaining: policy and organization," Monthly Labor Review

Oklahoma and South Carolina replied that State employees were not among employees permitted to bargain, with South Carolina noting attorney general opinions and court rulings as the legal basis for not bargaining.

11. ^ "The New SC Employee Handbook Law - FAQ," South Carolina Chamber of Commerce
12. ^ "South Carolina State Victories," The National Federation of Independent Business

South Carolina has long been an employment-at-will state; meaning employers could terminate an employee for any reason or no reason. It also means that an employee may leave for any reason or no reason. However, over-reaching courts were eroding this long-standing doctrine. In a unanimous decision (Conner v. City of Forest Acres), the South Carolina Supreme Court held that a jury would decide whether an employment contract exists in cases where mandatory language is found in the employee handbook, even where the handbook contains disclaimers. Well, not anymore! Governor Mark Sanford signed the employment-at-will law. that provides that states a handbook, personnel manual, policy, procedure, or other document issued by an employer after June 30, 2004, does not create an express or implied contract of employment if it is conspicuously disclaimed, meaning on the first page of the handbook.

13. ^ Michelle Crouch, "NC Continues to Suppress Labor Unions," reprinted at DukeEmployees.com from The Charlotte Observer, June 17, 2002.
14. ^ Berkeley Miller and William Canak, (1991) "From "Porkchoppers" to "Lambchoppers": The Passage of Florida's Public Employee Relations Act," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 44, No. 2; pp. 349-366.
15. ^ Dane M. Partridge, (1997) "Virginia's New Ban on Public Employee Bargaining: A Case Study of Unions, Business, and Political Competition," Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, Volume 10, Number 2; pp. 127-139.
16. ^ William Canak and Berkeley Miller, (1990) "Gumbo Politics: Unions, Business, and Louisiana Right-to-Work Legislation," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 43, No. 2; pp. 258-271.
17. ^ Gary D. Robertson, "NC House Panel Approves Bill to Remove Collective Bargaining Ban," Associated Press article at WRAL.com, July 3, 2007.
18. ^ Harold A. Schaitberger, "Letter to IAFF affiliates," March 9, 2007.
19. ^ "Wilson Presents Congressional Fire Services Awards," December 21, 2007.
20. ^ "Rep. Joe Wilson Champions Bill to End Forced Unionism," National Right to Work Foundation, October 27, 2007.
21. ^ "H 3176 General Bill," South Carolina Legislature

H 3176 General Bill, By Wilkins, Cato, Davenport, Vaughn, Sandifer, Walker, Altman, Robinson and Merrill: A BILL TO AMEND CHAPTER 7, TITLE 41, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO LABOR, EMPLOYMENT, AND THE RIGHT TO WORK, BY ADDING SECTION 41-7-100 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT THE PROVISIONS OF CHAPTER 7, TITLE 41, APPLY TO PUBLIC EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES AND TO LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT IN THE PUBLIC SECTOR AS WELL AS TO PRIVATE EMPLOYERS AND EMPLOYEES AND TO LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT IN THE PRIVATE SECTOR.

22. ^ "Schaitberger: City of Charleston Refused Help from IAFF & IAFC," Statter 911 at WUSA-TV News, June 25, 2007.
23. ^ "Municipal Unions Lose Senate Battle," The New York Times, November 7, 2001.
24. ^ "Firefighters Close to Gaining Senate Vote on Collective Bargaining Bill," U.S. Conference of Mayors, June 3, 2002.
 

I just finished listening to the tapes of the Charleston fire.

Who ever runs this FD needs to locked up! This incident was a cluster from the get go. I've been a Professional FF, Fire Officer, and IAFF member for twenty years. There is no excuse for this tragedy. It should have never happened. 100% preventable!

The buck stops with the Fire Chief, and the City leadership. A strong Union is the only chance this organization has.

My best to the families of the lost Firefighters. Rest in peace.