TCFire
05-21-2004, 12:22 PM
Event to help area firefighters is postponed
By LOU MICHEL
News Staff Reporter
5/21/2004
"A day set aside by The Buffalo News to raise funds to buy lifesaving equipment for Buffalo firefighters and assist suburban firefighters was postponed Thursday after the union representing city firefighters withdrew its support.
"This is the literal definition that no good deed goes unpunished," said Dottie Gallagher-Cohen, a News vice president, who decided to delay the June 2 fund-raising event after learning that the city firefighters union instructed members not to participate.
Joseph Foley, president of the firefighters union, said he was rescinding the union's backing of Western New York Firefighters Day because of layoffs of pressmen at The Buffalo News
The event will be delayed until "such time as we have their full commitment again," she said.
The intention of the fund-raiser, Gallagher-Cohen said, was to honor firefighters by helping the Buffalo Fire Department raise money for two $10,000 thermal imaging cameras, which assist in locating downed firefighters and citizens.
Western New York Firefighters Day was fashioned after Kids Day, an annual fund-raiser The News sponsors for Women and Children's Hospital, which has received $3 million since that event started.
The News had planned to provide thousands of complimentary newspapers to city and suburban firefighters who would distribute them and solicit donations on June 2. In lieu of the June 2 event, The News plans to run a public service advertising campaign to promote countywide volunteer firefighter recruitment, Gallagher-Cohen said.
The event was also sponsored by the Buffalo Firefighters Guardian Foundation and the Erie County Department of Emergency Services.
Attorney Thomas H. Burton protested the firefighter union's action by resigning from the board of directors overseeing the Buffalo Firefighters Guardian Foundation.
"The News went into this without a political agenda and the money we were going to raise would have benefited hundreds of Buffalo firefighters. To let this opportunity slip away is tragic," said Burton.Buffalo Fire Battalion Chief Joseph Brocato, who sponsored the firefighter union motion of support for the event, said he was upset at Foley's action.
"The motion passed unanimously. The union president and executive board are directed by the membership to support motions and now they aren't," Brocato said.
Foley, president of Local 282, Buffalo Professional Firefighters Association, said he made the decision to withdraw his union's support as an act of "solidarity and good faith" toward the pressmen whose jobs were lost in the News' conversion to new presses.
He added: "The decision came down to supporting unions or The Buffalo News."
After its new $40 million printing presses became operational at its downtown location, 31 fewer pressmen were needed. The two new presses replace five older, less-efficient presses.
News' management and officials for the Graphic Communications International Union, which represents the pressmen, had previously negotiated a contract addressing the staff reduction."
Curious as to your opinions on this. The City of Buffalo is on the verge of insolvency, there is a NYS Control Board that has been overseeing the city for several months now. 3 Buffalo Fire companies have been closed in the last few months. These guys do a great job, run a lot of fires, and the city has an ongoing nasty arson problem. The city just recently came out saying they may have to get rid of the arson investigation unit of BFD because of budget problems!
But....Cutting off your nose to spite your face?
By LOU MICHEL
News Staff Reporter
5/21/2004
"A day set aside by The Buffalo News to raise funds to buy lifesaving equipment for Buffalo firefighters and assist suburban firefighters was postponed Thursday after the union representing city firefighters withdrew its support.
"This is the literal definition that no good deed goes unpunished," said Dottie Gallagher-Cohen, a News vice president, who decided to delay the June 2 fund-raising event after learning that the city firefighters union instructed members not to participate.
Joseph Foley, president of the firefighters union, said he was rescinding the union's backing of Western New York Firefighters Day because of layoffs of pressmen at The Buffalo News
The event will be delayed until "such time as we have their full commitment again," she said.
The intention of the fund-raiser, Gallagher-Cohen said, was to honor firefighters by helping the Buffalo Fire Department raise money for two $10,000 thermal imaging cameras, which assist in locating downed firefighters and citizens.
Western New York Firefighters Day was fashioned after Kids Day, an annual fund-raiser The News sponsors for Women and Children's Hospital, which has received $3 million since that event started.
The News had planned to provide thousands of complimentary newspapers to city and suburban firefighters who would distribute them and solicit donations on June 2. In lieu of the June 2 event, The News plans to run a public service advertising campaign to promote countywide volunteer firefighter recruitment, Gallagher-Cohen said.
The event was also sponsored by the Buffalo Firefighters Guardian Foundation and the Erie County Department of Emergency Services.
Attorney Thomas H. Burton protested the firefighter union's action by resigning from the board of directors overseeing the Buffalo Firefighters Guardian Foundation.
"The News went into this without a political agenda and the money we were going to raise would have benefited hundreds of Buffalo firefighters. To let this opportunity slip away is tragic," said Burton.Buffalo Fire Battalion Chief Joseph Brocato, who sponsored the firefighter union motion of support for the event, said he was upset at Foley's action.
"The motion passed unanimously. The union president and executive board are directed by the membership to support motions and now they aren't," Brocato said.
Foley, president of Local 282, Buffalo Professional Firefighters Association, said he made the decision to withdraw his union's support as an act of "solidarity and good faith" toward the pressmen whose jobs were lost in the News' conversion to new presses.
He added: "The decision came down to supporting unions or The Buffalo News."
After its new $40 million printing presses became operational at its downtown location, 31 fewer pressmen were needed. The two new presses replace five older, less-efficient presses.
News' management and officials for the Graphic Communications International Union, which represents the pressmen, had previously negotiated a contract addressing the staff reduction."
Curious as to your opinions on this. The City of Buffalo is on the verge of insolvency, there is a NYS Control Board that has been overseeing the city for several months now. 3 Buffalo Fire companies have been closed in the last few months. These guys do a great job, run a lot of fires, and the city has an ongoing nasty arson problem. The city just recently came out saying they may have to get rid of the arson investigation unit of BFD because of budget problems!
But....Cutting off your nose to spite your face?