Firefighters Union to Protest Bush’s Block on Funding
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WASHINGTON — The head of the biggest U.S. firefighters union declared Friday that he will not use a memorial service for fallen comrades to protest President Bush’s rejection of funding for fire departments.
But International Assn. of Fire Fighters President Harold Schaitberger said he is planning to use his union’s 255,000 members to protest Bush at other events following his rejection of a $5.1-billion appropriation bill that included $340 million for fire departments.
“I will have people every place the president goes,” Schaitberger said in an interview from Las Vegas, where the IAFF just concluded a weeklong convention.
But Schaitberger said one of the places the president is expected to go where the IAFF will not mount a protest is the Oct. 6 annual tribute to firefighters who died in action in the last year, including those killed on Sept. 11, hosted by the National Fallen Fire Fighters Foundation.
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