1979-1988

IAFF President John A. Gannon seeks FEMA aid in reducing wide-ranging personnel cuts in states and cities.

IAFF members’ letters to Congress help save the $50,000 Death Benefit Act from the Reagan administration’s budget axe. The House of Representatives overwhelmingly passes the death benefit bill as the result of an extensive IAFF lobbying campaign.

IAFF leaders meet with Office of Management and Budget leaders to discuss the contracting-out of federal fire fighter jobs to private contractors.

Congress begins hearings on the Public Employees Retirement Income Security Act (PERISA). The IAFF’s Social Security Committee works hard to formulate many of its major provisions to protect the pensions of public employees.

The American Lung Association calls on the federal government to take responsibility in providing adequate protection to the nation’s fire fighters in the increasingly hazardous environment in which they work.

The IAFF holds its 36th Convention in Chicago, Illinois. IAFF President John A. Gannon is re-elected and Alfred K. Whitehead is elected secretary-treasurer.

List of All IAFF Conventions →

Despite the argument by some delegates that medical exams “would increase our ability to prove that cancers and heart disease are caused by fire service employment,” a resolution to encourage locals to negotiate comprehensive medical examinations for their members was defeated.

The Senate Armed Services Authorization bill, S-2248, passes the full Senate. The bill contains an amendment that prohibits contracting-out of firefighting and security functions. Congress ultimately passes a one-year ban on federal contracting out at military installations. This major victory is a result of the IAFF’s total grass-roots lobbying operation and the cooperation of its affiliates.

NIOSH reports that fire fighters are being exposed to high noise levels and show large amounts of hearing loss, calling for further research.

The IAFF publishes a 100-page booklet entitled, “Occupational Cancer and the Fire Fighter.” It analyzes the available data linking cancer to exposures at fire scenes.

The IAFF’s “1981 Annual Death and Injury Survey” shows a minimal increase in the number of occupational illness deaths. However, the causal factors of those deaths remain relatively constant: 60 percent due to heart disease, 33 percent due to cancer and 4 percent due to lung disease.

A John P. Redmond Foundation-funded study concludes that an organized, consistent exercise regimen can increase the physical fitness of fire fighters and improve their ability to perform job-related skills.

The IAFF and MDA launch a joint life safety program for the disabled. MDA plans to spend $325,000 to develop a prototype mechanical or electronic system containing fire and smoke alarm security warning systems and medical alert data for physically handicapped people, particularly those with muscular dystrophy. The IAFF sponsors a one-day workshop of the IAFF Life Safety Program for the Disabled.

MDA and the IAFF →

The IAFF makes a commitment to the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) to undertake a joint fire awareness effort to reduce death and injury rates in homes.

IAFF affiliates raise $3,350,000 for the Jerry Lewis 1982 MDA Telethon.

MDA and the IAFF →

Two Chicago, Illinois, fire fighters, one a veteran and the other a rookie, are killed when elevator cables melt. The fire fighters were trying to reach a fire 25 floors up, but the melted cable plunged them to their deaths.

IAFF President John A. Gannon announces that the computer era has arrived at the IAFF. The Labor Relations Press of Philadelphia awards a contract to convert the IAFF Research Department to data processing for five projects. By August, the IAFF is ready to implement two new services for local affiliates: 1) computer arbitration and 2) salary and working conditions searches.

12th District Vice President Charlie Hall calls on IAFF members to consider entering the mainstream of the legislative process by running for public office. Hall resigned from the IAFF Executive Board to run for a seat in the Florida House of Representatives. He attributes much of his election success to fire fighters who knocked on doors urging voters to support him.

The IAFF Executive Board authorizes $60,000 to finance effective public campaigns against consolidation.

The IAFF’s financial status improves due to a strict austerity program. Debt is cut to $847,829 and positive net worth is $297,041.

IAFF President John A. Gannon sends a letter to each IAFF affiliate alerting them to the precautions that should be taken when SCBA are used in cold weather.

IAFF Secretary-Treasurer Martin E. Pierce publishes a column on affirmative action. He supports fire departments’ efforts to remove any artificial barriers to employment to ensure equal opportunity for all employees and to enlist qualified minorities and females through the comprehensive use of employment recruitment techniques. He states that affirmative action should be a solution not a dilution.

Two Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, paramedics die at a four-alarm fire. The fire department was deemed grossly understaffed and, as a result, the needless deaths occurred.