Cross-posted at Daily Kos and Progressive Blue.
Finally a story of the people fighting back and demanding justice after all else has failed. Have you seen Irked at Democrats, Firefighters Suspend Federal Contributions yet?
The nation’s main firefighters’ union, long a strong supporter of Democratic candidates, announced on Tuesday that it would indefinitely suspend all contributions to federal candidates out of frustration with Congressional Democrats who, union officials say, have not fought harder against budget cuts and antiunion legislation.
The leadership of America’s Bravest telling Democrats “We’re feeling taken for granted” is a much bigger story than it sounds like. For many years many workers in all unions wanted to give up on Democrats because of campaign promises elected officials never intended to keep. Union leadership has always dragged us back into support with promises from the Democrats. Now the leadership of one of the most respected Unions is not only cutting of the Dems in Federal government, they are also sending the message to not just firefighters but all workers that Democrats are not worthy of personal donations or volunteer time.
Harold A. Schaitberger, the president of the 300,000-member union, said in an interview that he was dismayed with Democrats in Congress for not fighting harder against Republican budget cuts and efforts to weaken unions in more than a dozen state legislatures.
“We’re tired that our friends have not been willing to stand up and fight back on our behalf with the same ferocity, the same commitment that our enemies have in trying to destroy our members’ rights,” he said. “Quite frankly, our enemies are trying to kill us as a labor movement and union trying to represent workers and help the middle class.”