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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Union Attempting to Recast Itself as Philanthropic Group



Local 1889 a political entity, not a philanthropic endeavor.

May 18, 2011 - Leaders of Mehlville Local 1889 of the International Association of Fire Fighters desperately want the public to believe the union is a philanthropic organization that has the best interests of the community at heart.

But that just ain't so. Local 1889 is a political entity whose goal is obtaining control over taxpayers' dollars.

Until the April 2005 election for the Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors, Local 1889 leadership was very successful in achieving that goal. In fact, we'd be hard pressed to recall an election to that point in which a union-endorsed candidate did not prevail.

A favorite tactic of Local 1889 leaders was to announce their endorsement of a candidate before filing opened in an effort to discourage anyone else from filing. More often than not, no one else filed and the union-endorsed candidate was seated on the board without an election even being conducted.

Perhaps the apex of Local 1889's control came in late 1999 when the Board of Directors approved a three-year memorandum of understanding with the union that provided increases in employee salaries ranging from 15.48 percent to 19.15 percent over the life of the agreement — not to mention other lavish benefits. We opined at the time that the board had given away the store and were roundly criticized for that opinion. As it turned out, however, the agreement almost bankrupted the district.

Voters in April 2005 ousted two Local 1889-endorsed candidates and elected reformers Aaron Hilmer and Bonnie Stegman to the Board of Directors. In the ensuing years, Local 1889's image has taken a beating in the court of public opinion.

Heck, even Local 1889 leaders were cognizant of the poor public perception of their organization as they ran a stealth campaign in an effort to elect Michael Klund to the Board of Directors in April's election.

Local 1889 ended up contributing roughly $78,500 to two committees supporting Klund's unsuccessful candidacy. That's a nice chunk of change.

Add that to how much the union spent on its unsuccessful candidates in the 2007 and 2009 fire board elections and that amount totals roughly $131,700.

In an effort to rehabilitate Local 1889's image with the public, union leaders have attempted to recast their organization as a philanthropic one, doing good works for the community.

Days after the New Year's Eve tornado struck Sunset Hills, Local 1889 President Nick Fahs and crew coughed up a paltry $1,000 for the Sunset Hills Tornado Assistance Fund — after calling practically every media outlet in town and showing up at City Hall with a huge cardboard blowup of the check. That same day, a Sunset Hills resident contributed $10,000 to the fund, but did so anonymously.

Certainly Local 1889 should be recognized for the charitable contributions it has made over the years, but the union is not and will never be a philanthropic organization. That's not the reason it exists.

Given the amount of money Local 1889 has spent on lawsuits and unsuccessful candidates over the past few years, we wonder how much money is left in its coffers. Our guess is not much. That said, we wouldn't be surprised if its days as a local are numbered and it's forced to merge with another firefighters' union, perhaps Local 2665.

11 comments:

  1. LOCAL 1889 ATTEMPTED TO MAKE ITS BBQ FOR A QUADRIPLEGIC VETERAN HERO A "PHILANTHROPIC" EVENT. THEN THEY USED MFPD'S REFUSAL TO SEND EQUIPMENT TO A POLITICAL GROUPS EVENT (LOCAL 1889 IS A POLITICAL GROUP) TO DENOUNCE HILMER AND STONEBRAKER. I AM GLAD THE CALL EXPOSED THESE PHONIES FOR WHAT THEY ARE.

    LOCAL 1889 IS FINISHED.

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  2. The Call is doing a great service to the taxpayers by pulling off the mask of philanthropy put in place by Nick Fahs and Russ Bono. Local 1889 is a militant Democrat controlled labor union that has wasted every cent of their members' dues money on harebrained lawsuits and failed elections. Why any intelligent employee of the MFPD still belongs to this corrupt and failed organization is a complete mystery to me.

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  3. I hope the members of local 1889 drop there charter and go to local 2665 snd then you people will feel what a real war is like.

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  4. Local 2665 will be put in its place by the voters just like 1889. Bring it on!

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  5. 9:03: Are all supporters of Local 1889 as illiterate as you are? Can't you idiots use a spell checker? Dumbos.

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  6. You people don't have a chance in a war with local 2665. We will kick ass and take numbers.

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  7. Local 2665 is just another bunch of losers who the Call and Aaron Hilmer will cream.

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  8. Big Al is right about Russ Bono who used his war hero grandson Todd Nicely as a cheap political prop in Klund's campaign. But we should expect that from Bono's union who had a murderer as vice president. Pathetic.

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  9. You people are very sick. I hope all of you have your arms and legs blow off and then tell us how you ass holes feel.

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  10. 5:16: Once again you lowlifes are using war hero Todd Nicely to attack your political enemies - so WHO is sick?

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  11. How much overtime did the taxpayers of neighboring fire districts pay to send equipment to Local 1889's political picnic for war hero Todd Nicely? Instead of paying themselves overtime on the taxpayers, wouldn't have been better to write Nicely a check out of their own pockets? I'm glad Todd got some money but how much did Local 1889 skim off the top?

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