California Professional Firefighters

CPF Wraps Four Day No on 32 Tour With IAFF General President

In the fight against Proposition 32, the stakes are high and every vote counts.

That was the message delivered this week by IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger during a four-day, 14-stop tour of California fire stations and union halls. The tour, organized by California Professional Firefighters, was aimed at helping CPF members better understand Prop. 32, the deceptive Special Exemptions Act.

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS FROM THE TOUR STOPS

“As California goes, so goes the nation,” Schaitberger told more than 70 firefighters at a Tuesday morning stop in Ontario. “If we don’t make a stand here, we could see Proposition 32’s spreading across the country like a California wildfire.”

Proposition 32 would silence the voice of working Californians by imposing restrictions on voluntary dues deductions. At the same time, it carefully exempts Super PACs ad the super rich, allowing them to spend unlimited money to write their own rules.

“This is all about power," said SchaiTberger in Pasadena Wednesday. “It’s about taking us out of the political process and putting the country in the hands of a few wealthy individuals.”

WATCH AND SHARE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS AT WWW.CPFFIREVISION.ORG

Schaitberger joined CPF President Lou Paulson and CPF Secretary-Treasurer Lew Stone on the tour, which took them from Berkeley in the north to San Diego in the south.

At every stop, the message was the same – Proposition 32 is wrong for firefighters and wrong for California.

“One billionaire named Charles Munger has spent $25 million to pass Proposition 32,” Paulson told an evening phone bank rally in El Monte. “Twenty-five million from one guy. Why? To take us out of the game and clear the field for themselves. Proposition 32 is not reform … it’s an attack on the Middle Class.”

Firefighters turned out by the hundreds to greet the road show over the course of the four-day swing, which also included stops in Hayward, Stockton, Hollister, Oxnard, San Diego, San Bernardino, Santa Fe Springs, Los Angeles and Huntington Beach. Also while in Huntington Beach, the two presidents held a telephone town hall, connecting with nearly 3,500 members and answering questions about Prop. 32.

“To have the general president in our community speaks volumes about the importance of this fight for our survival,” said Ventura County firefighter Scott Dettore at the Oxnard station visit. “A few wealthy people are trying to take over the politics of this country. This is where we take a stand and say ‘not here.’”

WATCH AND SHARE VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS AT WWW.CPFFIREVISION.ORG

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS FROM THE GENERAL PRESIDENT'S TOUR

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