EMS and FAD Unions Back Bloomberg

[MGMedic 0]

3 UNIONS FIRED UP FOR BLOOMBERG

BY MICHAEL SAUL

DAILY NEWS CITY HALL BUREAU

A campaign press release boasted yesterday that Mayor Bloomberg picked up the endorsement of "three FDNY unions" - but those unions don't include firefighters, whose labor leaders aren't very happy with Hizzoner these days.

The Uniformed EMTs and Paramedics Union, the Uniformed EMS Officers Union and the Fire Alarm Dispatchers Benevolent Association, three groups with more than 3,000 members, endorsed Bloomberg yesterday.

The endorsement came as City Hall is feuding with the firefighter unions.

Firefighters remain locked in a bitter contract battle with Bloomberg.

Last week, tensions flared when FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta accused fire union leaders of deliberately slowing the response times to emergencies as part of a scheme to reopen firehouses and increase staffing.

Stephen Cassidy, president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, and Peter Gorman, president of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association, denied the allegations.

Gorman said yesterday he had no hard feelings about the endorsements by the three nonfirefighting FDNY unions.

"I believe in union autonomy," he said. "Every union president should back the candidate that they think best serves the needs of their members."

[JBE 328]

I was at this rally and it felt like I was eating cow dung the entire time. This mayor has done nothing but dump on the FDNY. Why was I there, You ask?? Very simple, HARD TO FILL!!!! This little gem allows the 5 borough residency requirement to be squashed and allows current employees the opportunity to move out of the city. Not that I would just yet, but I want that option somewhere along the way. The agreement was to endorse Doomberg and get the hard to fill.