Labor Leader of the Week: Joe King, President, IAFF Local 1

Joseph King is president of the Pittsburgh Professional Firefighters (IAFF) Local One.  700 firefighters have their union with Local One along with 900 retired members and well over 500 surviving spouses.

King voluntarily joined the U.S. Marines in 1960 and served two tours in Vietnam before being honorably discharged in 1970.  He was a professional firefighter recruit in 1974 and after six years on the job was elected as a trustee.  In 1986 he was elected Vice President and one year later he took over the presidency after the acting president was injured in a fire.  22 years later he is still president and this year marks his 35th on the job.

Because firefighters work for the city and put their lives on the line for a living, they are very active politically.  “A lot of our job protections are generated through our own state capitol, Harrisburg,” said King.  “Our local has 98% voter registration and we do get out and vote.  So any politician, from the governor to a local city council member, pays attention to us.”

“The issues that our union is concerned with, and bases its support of candidates on, are issues that effect firefighters and their families,” said King. We have to look at what our vision is for our future and then support the candidate that will support that vision.  Our livelihood depends upon it.  And that is also why our membership is so involved.”

Firefighters are especially concerned with health and safety regulations because, inevitably, every firefighter is at risk for any number of heart and lung diseases from job-related hazards.  Additionally firefighters are concerned about collective bargaining and homeland security funding.  “There are thirteen states where firefighters don’t have a right to collective bargaining.  We are lucky here in Pennsylvania but we believe that every one deserves the right to defend the health and safety of the firefighters in their union.”

“Along those same lines of safety and health we are concerned with funding for homeland security because while our members are prepared no matter what to perform their job to the best of their ability, we lose firefighters when we don’t have the funding to pay for the equipment and safety regulations they need.”

“Union members cannot take their membership for granted, no matter what line of work they are in,” said King.  “There is a tremendous amount of history in this country and the labor movement is responsible for creating most of it.  We built this country but it is still a work in progress as the last eight years have demonstrated.  Under the Bush administration I’ve watched jobs go overseas and seen working families struggle to make ends meet while big corporations report huge profit gains like Exxon Mobil’s 11.6 billion dollars in profit this year.”

“We have to educate our members and remind them that they are the labor movement.  We have to make politics work for us and the only way to do that is to get involved.  The labor movement is what will save working families in the United States so we better get to work now.  It is not about party affiliation, gender or race. It is about career and the right to work for every American.”