Free Republic

Union members want a contract on their terms, without regard for the residents of Austin. They have forgotten who pays the bills. In rejecting a fair and generous contract, the Austin Firefighters Association is engaging in a kind of political extortion to maintain high pay and perks while preserving an outmoded culture at the fire department. That culture has for decades resisted the kind of change Austin leaders have demanded as a way of integrating the department into the greater Austin community. The department is, and has been, a closed club that does not look like the city or reflect...

This is a WorldNetDaily printer-friendly version of the article which follows. To view this item online, visit http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50785 Sunday, June 25, 2006 YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORKU.S. firefighters in Mexico as American West burnsDespite raging blazes throughout Southwest, California sends state teams south of border Posted: June 25, 20068:50 p.m. Eastern By Joe Kovacs © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Despite raging wildfires across the American Southwest in recent weeks, the state of California sent more than four dozen firefighters 300 miles south of the U.S. border to battle blazes in Mexico. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF) last week dispatched two...