Spin Cycle

February 28, 2007

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

On March 14, 2007, the IAFF will host the first bi-partisan Presidential
Forum of the 2008 election cycle. No other union and very few organizations
have the creditability and respect to attract top tiered candidates from
both political parties. The line up of speakers who have agreed to
participate is truly a testament to our great union and to the reputation we
have built as a powerful political force and a coveted endorsement.

John Edwards, John McCain, Barack Obama, Chuck Hagel, Hillary Clinton, Chris
Dodd, Joe Biden, Duncan Hunter and seven others will make their case before
the 1,000 delegates who will be attending the Forum and to our entire
membership via same day broadcast on our web site.

Early on, the IAFF made a decision to invite all serious candidates from
both political parties-except one, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

We made this decision after considerable soul-searching and close
consultation with our two New York City affiliates, the Uniformed
Firefighters Association Local 94 and the Uniformed Fire Officers
Association Local 854, as well as former Local 94 President and current IAFF
1st District Vice President Kevin Gallagher.

The IAFF recognizes that Mayor Giuliani generally enjoys a favorable
reputation that was created by his actions immediately after the tragedy of
9/11. As such, we want our affiliates and every one of our members to
clearly understand the reason and rationale behind this very serious and
sober decision.

Many people consider Rudy Giuliani "America's Mayor" and many of our members
who don't, yet, know the real story, may also have a positive view of him.
This letter is intended to make all of our members aware of the egregious
acts Mayor Giuliani committed against our members, our fallen on 9-11, and
our New York City union officers following that horrific day.

Rest assured, our exclusion of Mayor Giuliani is not about any particular
contractual or policy issue or disagreement, nor is it based on his
unfriendly relationship with our New York City affiliates prior to 9/11,
which we will document and explain in additional correspondence later on
during the campaign. In fact, we invited several candidates with whom we
have had substantial disagreement on policy issues because we feel very
strongly that our members have the right to hear from all candidates, not
just folks who tow the IAFF line.

Regrettably, the situation with former Mayor Giuliani is very different.
His actions post 9/11 rise to such an offensive and personal attack on our
brother and sisterhood - and directly on our union - that the IAFF does not
feel Rudy Giuliani deserves an audience of IAFF leaders and members at our
own Presidential Forum.

The disrespect that he exhibited to our 343 fallen FDNY brothers, their
families, and our New York leadership in the wake of that tragic day has not
been forgiven or forgotten.

In November 2001, our members were continuing the painful, but necessary,
task of searching Ground Zero for the remains of over 2900 innocent victims
as well as our own fallen brothers, because precious few of those men and
women who died in the terrorist attacks had been recovered at that point.

Prior to Nov. 2001, 101 bodies or remains of fire fighters had been
recovered. And those on the horrible pile at Ground Zero believed they had
just found a spot in the rubble where they would find countless more, so
they could be given proper burial.

Despite that, Giuliani decided on Nov. 2, 2001 to sharply reduce the number
of those who could search for the remains of our own at any one time. There
had been as many as 300 fire fighters at a time involved in search and
recovery, but Giuliani cut that number to no more than 25 who could be there
at once.

At the same time, Giuliani also made a conscious decision to institute a
"scoop-and-dump" operation to expedite the clean-up of Ground Zero in lieu
of the more time consuming, but respectful, process of removing debris piece
by piece in hope of uncovering more remains.

Mayor Giuliani's actions meant that those who perished would either remain
buried at Ground Zero forever, with no closure for families, or be removed
like so much garbage and deposited at the Fresh Kills Landfill.

Our Local Presidents at the time attempted to meet with the Mayor to stop
this despicable treatment of our fallen, but he refused to even see them
face-to-face.

The scoop-and-dump continued. And when hundreds of family members of the
fallen joined with our affiliate leadership to protest Giuliani's decision,
he had senior officers of the New York Police Department arrest 15 of our
FDNY brothers, including then Local 94 President Gallagher and Local 854
President, Pete Gorman.

Giuliani modified his policy after the protest because public opinion was so
strongly with our members. Ultimately, he was forced to put the fire
fighters back on the pile. Our protests were later proven justified as
____more bodies were ultimately recovered and those families were given a
chance for some closure and a decent burial.

Giuliani argued that the change was for our own safety, but his argument was
empty and without substance. Fire fighters had been on that pile since
minutes after the twin towers fell -- why all of a sudden after nearly two
months working on the pile was Giuliani concerned about fire fighter safety?

In our view, he wasn't really concerned. The fact is that the Mayor's
switch to a scoop-and-dump coincided with the final removal of tens of
millions of dollars of gold, silver and other assets of the Bank of Nova
Scotia that were buried beneath what was once the Towers. Once the money
was out, Rudy sided with the developers who opposed a lengthy recovery
effort, and ordered the scoop-and-dump operation so they could proceed with
redevelopment.

In the first few days immediately after the disaster, Giuliani had said he
was committed to the recovery of those lost "right down to the last brick."
We believed him at the time. But, what he proved with his actions is that
he really meant the "last gold brick."

Giuliani crucified fire fighters after our protest and publicly stated that
our members were essentially acting like babies, that they didn't have the
market cornered on grief. His insensitive statements demonstrated his
inability to grasp what members of the FDNY were going through.

What Giuliani showed is a disgraceful lack of respect for our fallen and
those brothers and sisters still searching for them. He exposed our members
and leaders to arrest. He valued the money and gold and wanted the site
cleared before he left office at the end of 2001 more than the lives and
memories of those lost.

Our members deserved the right to continue with a full search for their lost
brothers. Proudly, as you know, the fire service has a code similar to the
military, where we leave no one behind. Recovering even a piece of a
turnout coat or helmet gave our FDNY brothers and sisters and the families
of the fallen some small semblance of peace, something to honor. But
hundreds remained entombed in Ground Zero when Rudy gave up on them.

The fundamental lack of respect that Giuliani showed our FDNY members are
unforgivable - and that's why he was not invited. Our disdain for him is
not about issues or a disputed contract, it is about a visceral, personal
affront to our fallen, to our union and, indeed, to every one of us who has
ever risked our lives by going into a burning building to save lives and
property.

We have heard from some affiliates that Giuliani's campaign is beginning to
reach out to our locals, looking to build support. If you are contacted by
the Giuliani campaign we hope you will say not just, "No," but, "Hell no."
And please let the IAFF's Political Affairs Department know about it by
calling 202-824-1582.

Please share this correspondence with your membership. Thank you.