(The following letter appears in the May/June edition of the International Fire Fighter magazine, the official magazine of the International Association of Fire FIghters with a distribution of 300,000 copies every other month)

Dear President Schaitberger,

            I am writing to share my gratitude for the overwhelming professionalism and compassion of Greg Russell, President of the National Capitol Professional Federal Fire Fire Fighters, IAFF Local F121.

            Quite simply, he changed my life, and no one could have done this but a selfless firefighter like him.

            For over twenty years, I’ve struggled with Inclusion Body Myositis, which is a form of Muscular Dystrophy.  My muscles have continued to atrophy to the point where I could rarely rise from my bed or walk under my own power.  In order to continue to live independently, I would require a ceiling lift from bedroom to bathroom.  And at age 41, the only other option was to live in a nursing home – for the rest of my life.   

            Even as I made arrangements to have a lift installed, I couldn’t find a patient sling with the proper amount of support for my body.  And without a fitted sling that I could operate myself, I would most certainly require around the clock care.  After trying multiple slings to no avail, the situation was looking dire.

            However, I had one last idea – a rescue harness.  I thought of the proud tradition of firefighters here in Chesapeake, where I was raised, and then I thought of Greg Russell.

            Greg was a friend from high school with whom I had recently become reacquainted on Facebook – we hadn’t actually spoken since graduation in 1985.  I called his cellphone, and found him shopping with his children.  Greg stopped what he was doing, told me not to worry, and that he would be glad to help me.

            Within five days, Greg had collected a few sample rescue harnesses and drove them from Maryland directly to my home in Chesapeake, Virginia for me to try.  He also brought rescue equipment catalogs to demonstrate what additional accessories might be necessary.

            Not only did Greg find the right harness, but he ordered it, personally altered it so that I could enter and exit myself without assistance, and then shipped the harness to me.  Within two weeks of calling Greg Russell, I had a workable harness in my hands.  And to top it all off, he wouldn’t allow me to reimburse him for the cost of the harness, buckles, alterations, or shipping. 

            All the while, I always understood that Greg wasn’t doing all this because we were life-long friends, or because of pity, or because he felt he owed me anything.  None of those were true, and indeed, none truly mattered. 

            He did it because he felt it was the right thing to do, because he knew he had the expertise as a firefighter to do it, and because he would do it for anyone who had the need.  That is the selfless spirit of firefighters which I could only read about before – and now I have lived it myself.  And what a life-altering change that spirit has made in the rest of my life. 

            I can’t thank him or your brotherhood of firefighters enough. 

Sincerely,

Greg A. Harris

Legislation to speed up the overhaul -- or the elimination -- of the National Security Personnel System is working its way through the House, earning praise from labor unions but concerns from a managers' group.

The measure, an amendment to the fiscal 2010 Defense authorization bill offered by Rep. Carol Shea-Porter, D-N.H., would prohibit new jobs from being classified under NSPS. It also would require the Defense secretary to prepare to end the controversial system, or submit a report to Congress demonstrating why it should remain. NSPS would be abolished within a year unless Congress decided to act to prevent that from happening, following the secretary's report.

The amendment was added to the authorization bill by a voice vote during a markup session at the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

The bill also would halt new hiring into the Defense Civilian Intelligence Personnel System, and would require the Defense secretary to submit a report defending that system, too.

The amendment mandates that NSPS employees receive 100 percent of the annual pay raises employees under the government's General Schedule system receive. Currently, NSPS employees are guaranteed only 60 percent of that raise.

NSPS already has been frozen in place by the Defense Department, pending a review by the Defense Business Board. The board is expected to begin public hearings on the system next week, and will deliver a report to Congress later this summer.

Union officials claim Defense is circumventing the freeze by continuing to classify new positions under NSPS.

Officials at the Federal Managers Association said the organization supports the House move on annual pay raises, but is wary of efforts to take broader action while the Defense Business Board review is under way.

"I'd hate to see them go into the middle of a year and try to transfer these systems," said FMA President Darryl Perkinson.

Shea-Porter said the aim of the amendment was to ensure that Congress could move on overhauling NSPS as soon as the board's review is completed.

"This amendment gives us the opportunity to take action this year on the recommendations resulting from the department's review of NSPS," she said. "Without this language, we would not be able to act until fiscal 2011 and the serious problems would linger unresolved for yet another long year. Our dedicated federal workers deserve better than that."

A spokesman from the Defense Department declined to comment on the pending legislation.

Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, a longtime NSPS defender, said it would be "premature" to eliminate Defense's pay-for-performance system. "I firmly believe that NSPS should continue," he said.

The committee still was debating the authorization bill on Tuesday evening. Once it passes, it will be taken up by the full House, where it could be modified on the floor. The Senate Armed Services Committee will begin a markup of its version of the bill next week.

The Senate switchboard number is (202) 224-3121. Simply call this number and ask to be transferred to your senator's office. 

Click here to send your senator an e-mail. 

After a long stretch of vacancies at the Federal Labor Relations Authority, President Obama has begun to make appointments to fill empty positions, and federal employee unions say they are pleased with the president's choices.

On June 4, Obama announced the appointments of Ernie DuBester to be a member of FLRA and Julia Clark to be the agency's general counsel. The authority has had only two of its mandated three members since July 2008, when Dale Cabaniss, the former chairwoman, resigned. The general counsel position has been vacant for a similar length of time. President Obama appointed Carol Waller Pope acting chairman of FLRA in February.

FLRA is responsible for settling disputes under the 1978 Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute and resolving conflicts over the types of issues that can be negotiated between unions and agencies. But the authority cannot issue judgments of unfair labor practices or broker settlements without a general counsel, and some unions have expressed concern about cases that have gone unresolved during the past year.

"I look forward to [DuBester and Clark's] prompt confirmation and, among other steps, to their efforts to reduce sharply the long-standing backlog of pending FLRA cases," said National Treasury Employees Union president Colleen Kelley.

Both DuBester and Clark have extensive experience with federal labor law. Clark has worked for the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers for 20 years, and is currently the union's general counsel. She served on President Obama's transition team, where she was in charge of reviewing FLRA's operations. IFPTE Legislative Director Matt Biggs said the union would not comment on Clark's nomination until she was confirmed, but other labor leaders praised her.

"She has a keen legal mind and has extensive experience in labor, employment and election law," American Federation of Government Employees president John Gage said.

Management groups had less to say about Clark and DuBester. Todd Wells, a spokesman for the Federal Managers Association, said the group simply did not know enough about either nominee to comment. Officials at the Senior Executives Association did not respond to requests for comment Monday.

Clark played in an important role in IFPTE's efforts to organize a union at the Government Accountability Office. She represented the union in court proceedings to determine which employees were eligible to join the new local.

DuBester began his career at the National Labor Relations Board, where he was counsel to the chairman, and worked on issues related to interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act, which forms the basis for the Federal Labor-Management Relations Statute. He served as a counsel to the AFL-CIO for nine years, and later as a member and chairman of the National Mediation Board, which handles labor-management disputes in the railroad and airline industries.

Obama fired the Bush administration appointees to the Federal Service Impasses Panel, which resolves disputes between unions and agencies, in March, and has not appointed their replacements yet.

We appreciate the Obama administration's support of fire fighters and our union. Just as important, please let your mayor know that the picket lines will be up, that President Obama and Vice President Biden have stated their refusal to cross our lines, and that they have a choice to make, as well.

Fraternally,

Harold Schaitberger
General President

Two long-standing IAFF priorities have been wedded in a single bill, winning approval by a key Senate panel. Legislation granting federal fire fighters presumptive disability coverage for occupational illnesses was adopted by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs by voice vote, but only after the legislation was amended to include language restoring the Ryan White Notification provision that enables fire fighters to learn if they have been exposed to an infectious disease.

The Federal Fire Fighters Fairness Act, authored by Senators Tom Carper (D-DE) and Susan Collins (R-ME), has long been the IAFF’s top legislative priority for its members employed by the federal government. The bill, S.599, would establish a rebuttable presumption that heart disease, lung disease, certain cancers and certain infectious diseases are occupational illnesses linked to fire fighting. The Committee originally planned to approve the bill last month, but postponed action at the request of Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK), who raised a variety of objections. One of Coburn’s concerns was that the bill should focus on preventing illnesses rather than compensating them. The IAFF met with Coburn’s staff to discuss this concern, which ultimately resulted in action on a second IAFF priority.

The Ryan White Act, a comprehensive law enacted in 1990 to address the spread of HIV-AIDS, originally contained a provision providing for notification to emergency responders who are exposed to an infectious disease while providing patient care. In an apparent oversight, this notification language was removed from the law a few years ago. Working with Senator Coburn’s staff, the IAFF crafted language to restore the provision.

While still objecting to the Federal Fire Fighters Fairness Act, Coburn offered the Ryan White language as an amendment to the bill, and the amendment was approved unanimously.

Carper and Collins both argued for passage of the bill, and they were aided by the strong endorsement of Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT). Joining Coburn in opposition was Senator George Voinovich (R-OH), who as governor had signed the Ohio presumptive disability law for municipal fire fighters. Voinovich voiced a number of objections, and urged the committee to consider making changes before the bill reaches the Senate floor.

“Thanks to our many friends in the United States Senate, we made progress on two significant issues,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “Our federal brothers and sisters deserve the same coverage for occupational illness that our members in 42 states enjoy. And this victory was made even better by the addition of the Ryan White notification provision, which has provided an important protection for our members for nearly two decades.”

IAFF Urges Lawmakers to Bolster Airport Safety By Improving Firefighting Standard