Another Major Union Will NOT Endorse Presidential Candidate

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) announced Thursday it will decline to make a presidential endorsement in the 2024 election.

The IAFF’s decision follows Teamsters declining to endorse a presidential candidate.

According to POLITICO, the IAFF represents more than 300,000 career firefighters and emergency responders.

“Today, the IAFF Executive Board, by a margin of 1.2%, voted to not endorse a candidate in the 2024 presidential election. Over the past year, the IAFF took unprecedented steps to hear our members’ views on the candidates and the policy issues that matter most to them,” the labor union said in a press release.

A statement from @IAFFPresident following today’s IAFF Executive Board meeting pic.twitter.com/D6K6eQFrF7

— International Association of Fire Fighters (@IAFFofficial) October 3, 2024

From POLITICO:

Harris has won the endorsements of an overwhelming number of unions. But it’s the second notable union-related setback in recent weeks for her campaign, which is strongly banking on organized labor to boost its outreach to working-class voters on her behalf — particularly in key swing states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Both vice presidential candidates — Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) — spoke at IAFF’s August convention in Boston as the union considered its options.

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IAFF’s late non-endorsement — with votes already being cast in some states — carries particular weight given that the union was the first to endorse President Joe Biden at the outset of his campaign to defeat Donald Trump in 2019. That was partly due to Biden’s decades-long ties with IAFF and its then-leader, Harold Schaitberger, who stepped aside in 2021.

Under Schaitberger the IAFF had also preliminarily planned to endorse Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign but scuttled the idea after taking stock of its membership, The New York Times reported in 2015.

The Firefighters Union, first out of gate to endorse @JoeBiden four (actually five) years ago, makes it official that it won’t endorse in 2024 race pic.twitter.com/kZ9CLcUwSb

— Mike Memoli (@mikememoli) October 3, 2024

This is … not a good timeline if you are Kamala Harris.

Say, what Democrat failed to receive the IAFF endorsement in 2016, and whatever happened to her? pic.twitter.com/kQGP533eX8

— Tim Murtaugh (@TimMurtaugh) October 3, 2024

The Hill reports:

The union announced in April 2019, with the Democratic primary still in its early stages, that it was supporting Biden’s White House bid. The president spoke at the union’s 2023 legislative conference, where he told the firefighters in attendance, “I have your back.”

The IAFF’s decision not to endorse comes after the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the nation’s largest unions, announced it would not endorse a candidate in the White House race this year.

While Teamsters leadership said they weren’t backing a candidate between Trump and Harris, numerous local Teamsters chapters quickly came out in support for the vice president.

Harris has earned the support of several other major organized labor groups since she replaced Biden atop the Democratic ticket, including the United Auto Workers. Harris has signaled she will carry on with many of the same labor policies as Biden, who has often touted himself as the most pro-union president in history.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.

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