Firefighters Union Endorses No One For President

The leading union for firefighters said Thursday it would not be endorsing anyone for president this year, even though the union backed Democrat Joe Biden for the White House in the 2020 election.

The International Association of Fire Fighters’ executive board voted narrowly against making an endorsement, by a margin of just 1.2%, according to Edward Kelly, the union’s president.

Kelly said the union “took unprecedented steps to hear our members’ views on the candidates” before arriving at the non-endorsement.

“This decision, which we took very seriously, is the best way to preserve and strengthen our unity,” he said.

The IAFF joins the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in sitting out the 2024 election. Most other labor groups, including the AFL-CIO labor federation, came out in support of Vice President Kamala Harris shortly after Biden dropped his reelection bid this summer, making room for Harris atop the Democratic ticket.

No major international unions have endorsed Harris’ opponent, former GOP President Donald Trump.

Even though the IAFF is not taking a side, any non-endorsement from organized labor gives Trump something to boast about. Unions are generally an ally of the Democratic Party, and the Trump campaign is expected to point to the non-endorsements as a sign of his appeal among rank-and-file members.

The IAFF, which represents 350,000 firefighters and emergency medical workers, came out for Biden early in the 2020 campaign. The union’s president at the time, Harold Schaitberger, was a personal friend and vocal supporter of Biden’s. Even though union endorsements are typically made through a vote by an executive board, a union president often has significant sway.

The IAFF did not endorse anyone in 2016, when Hillary Clinton was the Democratic presidential nominee facing off with Trump. It had endorsed Barack Obama twice, in 2008 and 2012, when the Democrat ran against Republicans John McCain and Mitt Romney, respectively.

Even though the union isn’t taking a position this year, Kelly said he encouraged members to “get out and make their voices heard in the upcoming election.”

Both Biden and Harris have pushed for legislation that would make it easier to form unions, and many labor historians view Biden’s administration as the most pro-union since Franklin D. Roosevelt’s.

The Biden administration even voiced support for IAFF firefighters who were locked out by Boeing in May amid a contract dispute with the airplane manufacturer. Biden said the firefighters should get “the pay and benefits they deserve.”