Wisconsin unions say NO to 911 firefighter float idea
911 Flag Raising
An article by Daniel Bice in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel reports that a Wisconsin firefighter’s union has refused to support a float replicating the famous photo of 9 -11 firefighters raising the American flag.
Seems that one of the men who originally made the float, Matt Gorniak, a born-again Christian and Governor Walker supporter, recently dropped out of the union and opted to pay only his “fair share” of union dues under a little-known provision of Wisconsin law. According to the Sentinel:
Under state law, public employees can drop out of the union and opt to pay just their “fair share” for the cost the union incurs for negotiating contracts. These nonvoting employees don’t have to foot the bill for the union’s political, social and ideological activities.
Union leaders were not happy:
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. Other union leaders were also tight-lipped.
Gorniak and a few other firefighters created the float first in 2002 as a dedication to the firefighters, police and emergency personnel who died on 9-11, and it got rave responses from the audience in a number of Wisconsin parades that year. They thought it would be a good idea to roll the float out again for the ten year anniversary of the attack. Parade planners enthusiastically accepted the idea, but the union said no.
Gorniak offered to back completely out of the project, and let other union firefighters show it in the parade. Union officials nixed that idea too. If that doesn’t tell you something about the mentality of today’s union leaders, nothing will.
At this point Gorniak plans on putting the float in the parade anyway, even if he has to man it alone. But according to an update in the Sentinel, many firefighters have called in their support:
Dozens of firefighters, emergency workers and veterans contacted the Journal Sentinel to say they wanted to march with Gorniak in the Fourth of July parade.
“This should not be about politics, union issues or anything else except what it represents – those who gave their lives in service to our country and the people that they serve,” said Timothy S. McCormick, a retired Air Force noncommissioned officer who spent the day rounding up support for Gorniak and the float.
But the union is digging in its heels:
Reached Friday, Craig Ford, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 321, defended his executive board members’ unanimous decision not to offer a helping hand to the float or to march with it in their hometown parade.
“I think we made the right decision,” Ford said. “The union is not going to use union resources to support this…”
The union leaves absolutely no doubt that it knows its priorities.
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17 U.S.C. §512 compliance: click here to read Jim’s column at the Examiner
This article was offered by businessman and Examiner.com columnist Jim Simpson, a former White House staff economist and budget analyst. He’s best known for his exposé on the Cloward Piven Strategy of economic sabotage.
His work has been published at Big Government, Big Peace, Emerging Corruption, American Thinker, Washington Times, WorldNetDaily, FrontPage Magazine, Soldier of Fortune, Right Side News and others. Check him out at his site CrisisNow or contact Jim by email at
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