The float is shown at the Parkway Apostolic Church in Oak Creek, where firefighter Matt Gorniak and a church youth group are making it ready for a Racine parade on Monday.
Posted on 07/01/2011 12:06:20 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
In the upcoming Racine Fourth of July parade, Wisconsin firefighter Matt Gorniak wants to enter his parade float honoring firefighters and cops killed on Sept. 11, 2001. One problem — Gorniak has availed himself of a little-used contract provision that allows him to opt out of membership in the firefighters’ union. Thus, the union has set out to punish him for his transgression, voting to boycott his float. According to Dan Bice of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
The same float — a re-enactment of the famous photo of three firefighters raising the American flag amid the rubble of the World Trade Center — created a rush of emotions as it passed through three parade routes in Milwaukee County back in 2002. Crowds spontaneously rose to their feet, offering thunderous applause.
With the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks coming up later this year, Gorniak and his church’s youth group decided to revive the float in Racine’s upcoming Independence Day parade, one of the biggest in the area.
Unexpectedly, the request set off a debate among the leaders of the Racine firefighters union.
The problem: Gorniak had recently invoked a little-used provision in his union contract and opted out of membership in the Wisconsin State Firefighters Association.
Members of the executive board of the Racine firefighters union ultimately decided not to support or march with his float.
This week, the head of the union declined to discuss the decision.
“I really don’t have much of a comment on that,” said Craig Ford, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 321..................
Not a surprise at all. Maybe some other group can have the float to help him out..
We don’t need no stinkin’ union leaders messing with our parade!
Union scumbags show their prinmary allegiance is to the union bosses - not to America.
Nor to the people they call “brothers” when it’s convenient to ‘em.
Union goon RAT traitors.
Thanks Cincinatus’ Wife.
Wisconsin firefighter Matt Gorniak wants to enter his parade float honoring firefighters and cops killed on Sept. 11, 2001. One problem -- Gorniak has availed himself of a little-used contract provision that allows him to opt out of membership in the firefighters' union. Thus, the union has set out to punish him for his transgression, voting to boycott his float.
It's my understanding that Gorniak is a "Fair Share" member, which means he pays a portion of the union dues for representation, but chooses to opt out of any dues paid for POLITICAL purposes.
The union leaders in Wisconsin would trample their own grandmothers if they looked cross-eyed at "da union".
I think the public sector unions are choking on news that....
“Union curbs rescue a Wisconsin school district”
“This is a disaster,” said Mark Miller, the Wisconsin Senate Democratic leader, in February after Republican Gov. Scott Walker proposed a budget bill that would curtail the collective bargaining powers of some public employees. Miller predicted catastrophe if the bill were to become law — a charge repeated thousands of times by his fellow Democrats, union officials, and protesters in the streets.
Now the bill is law, and we have some very early evidence of how it is working. And for one beleaguered Wisconsin school district, it’s a godsend, not a disaster.
The Kaukauna School District, in the Fox River Valley of Wisconsin near Appleton, has about 4,200 students and about 400 employees. It has struggled in recent times and this year faced a deficit of $400,000. But after the law went into effect, at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, school officials put in place new policies they estimate will turn that $400,000 deficit into a $1.5 million surplus. And it’s all because of the very provisions that union leaders predicted would be disastrous...........”
http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/2011/06/union-curbs-rescue-wisconsin-school-district
Unionistas have made their own bed, with all their whining, temper tantrums, leaving children teacherless for days to protest, threatening small businesses with boycots if they didn’t display their union backing signs (barf), and so forth. The sleepy mainstream hard working Wisconsinite has had quite enough of the overpampered union thugs. Now that Walker has passed this bill, already other communities are seeing daylight. As we’ve all seen, the “perks” these union thugs are getting is criminal. No other word for it. LIke a spoiled child - I want more, I want more. blah blah.
Tough luck unionistas.. You blew it big time. Now it’s time for the adults to take back the state. PS: the sky is falling, the sky is falling. NOT
Awesome report on the school budget.
Thanks
Fortunately this is one union that should shrink like the automakers, as Americans have realized the costs involved with paying people to sleep in firehouses and fight the occasional fire. Shared services are going to dramatically decrease the number of paid firemen in this country, and I don’t think the unions have any interest in volunteers.
Weeks after 9/11, when the question was raised about replacing all the firemen killed on 9/11, it came to light that many firehouse closing were already in the works and they might not be replaced (I believe many of them weren’t). Says a lot about the fat that could be cut in just about every city across the country.
Bet the decision would be different if the rotal membership voted on it.
Bet the decision would be different if the total membership voted on it.
Gorniak said Ford, the union president, was on board initially.
[snip]
Ford decided to take the parade issue to his executive board. Before the vote, Gorniak said, he offered to back out and turn over the keys to the truck, letting Ford and other Racine firefighters lead the float through the parade.
It didn't work.
Gorniak said he was told a few days later that the board had voted not to support the float.
Perhaps there are some volunteer fire fighters in more rural areas who'd be willing to support the float. Unlike their union "brothers", most volunteers I know aren't in it for the money or pensions or political statements; they do it to serve their communities.
In the long run this is going to harden public opinion toward public sector unions. The unions shot themselves in the foot already now they’re aiming higher. How stupid can they be?
what has happened to our society when our firemen hate the country so much....
no one need to question who these types will follow if or when the SHTF.....they've got their marching orders and its not to protect Americans....
this is one reason why we should return to all volunteer fire depts....
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