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News Releases
NEWS FROM
ATLANTA FIREFIGHTERS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Office of the President, Jim Daws
Atlanta Professional Fire Fighters, IAFF Local 134
161 Mangum Street, Atlanta, GA 30313
404-406-9913, jdaws@atlantafirefighters.org
Firefighters Rally for Equal Respect
Atlanta, GA - June 18, 2006
Correction: The original press release incorrectly listed the rally for 10:30am. The correct time for the rally is 11:30am.
On Monday, June 19, 2006, Atlanta City Council will vote on Mayor Shirley Franklin's latest effort to make the city's firefighters second-class citizens in Atlanta public safety.
The mayor's latest budget proposal contains a 3.5% pay raise for police officers, but zero for Atlanta's firefighters. This is in spite of the fact that Franklin admits Atlanta firefighters are paid over 25% less than firefighters in comparable departments and the city claims an $18 million dollar budget surplus.
City Council will decide whether to ratify this policy. In two previous attempts by Franklin to give police larger raises than firefighters, the Council refused to go along, granting equal raises to the two groups. But Franklin refuses to take no for an answer and the 3.5% gap created by this proposal is exactly equal to the total amount contained in the two previous attempts.
Atlanta Professional Fire Fighters Association President Jim Daws remarked, “Mayor Franklin sees every dollar paid to firefighters as one less dollar available to pay police. Instead of reordering budget priorities, she keeps trying to take a pound of flesh from the city's hard-working firefighters and their families. For NASCAR, Brand Atlanta or the Beltline - millions. For firefighters who've been severely underpaid for over a decade - zero.”
On Monday, June 19th at 11:30 am, Atlanta firefighters will rally on the steps of Atlanta City Hall Tower and ask the City Council to turn back this unfair and unwise proposal and grant firefighters an equal raise. Afterwards they will attend the Council meeting at 1pm at City Council Chambers.
For more information of firefighters' activities, call:
President Jim Daws at 404-406-9913 or
Vice President Stephen Hill at 404-787-5658
Activity Date: June 19, 2006
Time: 11:30 am
Location: Atlanta City Hall Tower, 55 Mitchell Street, SE ###
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