The bill would even have jeopardized community volunteer fire departments. According to the National Volunteer Fire Council, the largest advocacy group for volunteer firefighters, volunteers make up an estimated 75 percent of all firefighters in the United States, and about half of these are career firefighters who volunteer their services in the communities in which they live. But the IAFF constitution specifically forbids its members from "acquiring or maintaining membership ? in volunteer fire departments or associations," and the union can fine, suspend or expel members who violate this provision. By forcing more local governments into collective bargaining agreements with the IAFF, the pool of trained volunteers for smaller communities would have shrunk dramatically. Thankfully, the IAFF-backed bill did not pass -- it was opposed by the National Governors Association, the Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities, among other organizations -- but has been re-introduced in the 108th Congress and remains the top priority for the union.
The IAFF's attack on the Bush campaign ads is just the first salvo in what promises to be a powerful guerrilla war waged by unions against President Bush and other Republican candidates this election. Unions will pump in hundreds of millions of dollars over the next several months to defeat Republicans, the overwhelming majority of it in unreported expenditures. Although the IAFF and other unions must report direct contributions to candidates made through their political action committees, PAC donations represent only a small fraction of union political spending. In 2000, for example, unions donated $90.1 million directly to Democrats, according to the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics. In addition, unions committed $46 million for a grassroots mobilization effort in 35 congressional districts in 15 states.
The National Education Association (NEA), the nation's largest union with 2.7 million members, employees more than 1,800 political operatives, known as UniServ staff, more than the combined staffs of both the Democrat and Republican National Committees. According the Landmark Legal Foundation, which has filed complaints against the NEA with the IRS for failing to properly report its political spending, the NEA spend $47 million a year and its state affiliates another $43 million underwriting UniServ.
If past history is any guide, unions will spend $800 million or more to defeat President Bush and other Republicans this election cycle, almost all of it hidden from public scrutiny and taken from involuntary union dues. So the next time a union official accuses President Bush of playing politics with fallen heroes, remember the unions are champions at that game.