The International Association of Fire Fighters announced Thursday that it will not endorse a presidential candidate this year.
The news took a special hit at Vice President Kamala Harris because of the union first Supporting Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential bid.
The union’s president, Edward A. Kelly, said in a statement that the group’s executive board voted Thursday by a 1.2% margin not to endorse it.
He added that the board “determined that if we stand together as a union, we can better protect our members and make progress on the issues that matter to them. This decision, which we take very seriously, is the best way to protect and strengthen our union.” .
The union represents more than 350,000 firefighters, EMS workers and paramedics in the United States and Canada.
Both presidential campaigns made personal appeals to union members at a convention in Boston in August, with Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz and Ohio Sen. JD Vance speaking at the event.
Harris too appealed to the union members During a separate IAFF legislative conference in Washington in March before Biden dropped out of the race.
Although the union came out quickly in 2020, four years ago, the IAFF also backed Biden. chose not to participate in the presidential race.
Trump, who was still a presidential candidate at the time, criticized the union’s leadership. tweets“The Dues Sucking firefighters leadership will always support the Democrats no matter what the membership wants me to do. Some things never change!”
In another tweet on the same daypraising the union members who supported him, he wrote: “I will never have the support of Dues Crazy union leadership, people who steal their membership with ridiculously high dues, medical and other expenses while being paid a fortune. But members love Trump, our record economy, to reducing taxes and regulations, to our military, etc.
The Trump and Harris campaigns did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.
Last month, the Teamsters union, which represents more than a million truck drivers, truckers and others, also refused to support the presidential candidate. But a request A poll of rank-and-file members released publicly by the group’s leadership showed that 60% of rank-and-file union members favored Trump over Harris. Only 34% of members supported Harris.
The AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers union, which represents millions of workers, each endorsed Harris this term.
During a speech to union members in August, Walz spoke about the importance of unions and his pride in being a “card-carrying” member of the state teachers union.
Walz said that when he and Harris are on duty, “they will make sure that you have all the resources and protections that you need to do your jobs and that your service is respected and that you come home safe every night.” He added that if elected, Harris would sign the PRO Act, which would make it easier for unions to organize.
The next day, Vance, Trump’s running mate, spoke at the convention, and when he took the stage, he was met with a few boos.
“This may come as a shock to you, but I wasn’t Trump at one point,” said Vance, who cited a friend named Matt, a firefighter from Dayton, Ohio, as one of the biggest influences in helping him. Come on Trump.
“I changed my mind because he did a good job for the American people,” Vance told the crowd.