Thomas Miller Elected IAFF General Secretary-Treasurer

January 20, 2010 -- Following the retirement of IAFF General Secretary-Treasurer Vincent J. Bollon on January 15, 2010, the IAFF Executive Board – in accordance with the IAFF Constitution and Bylaws – has elected Thomas H. Miller, to finish the term.

“Tommy Miller has demonstrated his ability to lead on the local, state and international levels of this great union,” says IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger. “I have no doubt he will continue to be an invaluable asset to our members in his new capacity as General Secretary-Treasurer.”

Miller says, “As I take on this new position of General Secretary-Treasurer, I am mindful of the awesome responsibility of the duties that come with it. I look forward to providing this higher level of service to our members.”

The newly-elected General Secretary-Treasurer joined the Indianapolis Fire Department in 1968, retiring in 2005 at the rank of captain. Showing an early commitment to the IAFF, he was elected a trustee of the Indianapolis, IN Local 416 in 1971, and elected vice president in 1974.

In 1978, Miller was elected as president of the Professional Fire Fighters Union of Indiana (PFFUI), and served until 2002. While still serving as PFFUI president, he also began serving as IAFF 8th District Vice President – representing Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky and Michigan – in 2000. With more than 700 locals, the 8th District is the second-largest District in the IAFF.

Miller was appointed in 1986 by former Governor Robert Orr to the 1977 Police Officers and Firefighters Pension and Disability Fund Advisory Board. He was reappointed by four successive governors and became chairman of the advisory board in 1990.

He also served as an advisor to numerous Indianapolis mayors and governors and other legislators on matters of public safety, pensions, labor contracts and other fire service and union issues.

Miller also served two tours of duty in Vietnam while in the U.S. Navy as a sailor aboard the U.S.S Tioga County.

Excise Tax Update

January 15, 2010 -- With a health care reform deal announced loudly in the media between “labor,” the administration and Congress on changes to the excise tax provision, I want to provide you a new update today that outlines some of the key elements of that deal and what we know about the potential impact they will have on each and every one of you.

From Day One, we forcefully argued that the excise tax was bad policy and bad politics and that it had no place in any health care reform bill. Not once did we waver from that argument.

Our message was heard and we believe had a significant impact on what ultimately came out of the negotiations between representatives of the labor movement, the administration and Congress.

We believe we can say with confidence that our constant and consistent message resulted in significant changes to the excise tax provision of the reform bill that the House and Senate now must finish debate on and send to the president.

I don’t want to overstate this, but suffice it to say that our hard opposition to the excise tax convinced negotiators to agree to new provisions that, while they fall short of our goal of eliminating the excise tax, these changes do effectively eliminate the burden of additional taxes that would have fallen on our members had the tax remained unaltered.

Based on the initial information we have received from the AFL-CIO on the changes to the excise tax provision, we know that:

• Every health plan covering our members is exempt from the tax until 2018, based on new provisions that collectively bargained health benefits will be exempt from the tax until 2018, as would the benefits of all state and local municipal worker plans even if not collectively bargained;
• The threshold for the tax to kick in on family plans has been raised from $23,000 to $24,000 for all workers, and from $26,000 to $27,000 for our members;
• The cost of dental and vision coverage will be excluded from the cost of the plans when determining if they rise above the threshold beginning in 2015;
• Each year after 2013, the $27,000 threshold for our members will increase by the CPI + 1 percent and will rise even more in high cost states;
• Further, if health care costs rise faster than expected prior to 2013, the initial thresholds will also be increased, as well.

While there’s significantly more to the deal than just these initial bullets, and we are going to do a full and complete analysis over the coming days, we have not been able to identify a single IAFF member’s health care plan that would or will be subject to the excise tax based on these new provisions scheduled to take effect in 2018.

We know there’s a lot more to go in the political process before this bill is finally approved by both houses of Congress and signed by the President, but we are pleased that our efforts to protect our members from a severe economic penalty appear to have made a significant impact on what we are told will be in the final legislation.

We will update all of you as more details of the bill emerge.

January 14, 2010 Message from President Schaitberger on Excise Tax

January 11, 2010 Message from President Schaitberger on Excise Tax

 Brothers and Sisters,
 I am proud to announce that the PFFI Scholarship criteria have been
 formalized and the process is ready to begin awarding our first scholarship this coming
 year.
 Please look over the application that is attached and if you have any
 questions contact PFFI 3rd DVP Ben Hirschi.  It is just another way that your PFFI
 is working for all of you.   The topic for this years essay is "what does unionism mean to you".
 Submit your application early and good luck!

--
Fraternally,
Ron Davies, President
Professional Fire Fighters of Idaho
1326 Iris Street
Pocatello, ID
83201
Office:208-478-2425
Cell: 208-221-7677
Station: 208-234-6207

Log on to www.pffi.org for more info.

Brothers and Sisters,

The core political principle of this union is we support those who support us. If you make promises to us, we will hold you accountable.
We held President Bush accountable when he made decisions that had a negative impact on our members' jobs and lives. We will do the same with this president and any future president.

Throughout the debate on health care reform, even before the proposed excise tax on so-called high cost health plans was proposed, our union has made it clear to Congress and President Obama that our goal is reducing health care costs while preserving the benefits our members already have without piling more taxes on the backs of hardworking Americans.

In 2008, then-candidate Obama promised three things. First, he would not raise taxes on folks making less than $250,000 a year. Second, he vowed not to tax your health insurance benefits. Third, he promised that under his health reform plan that people would be able to keep their existing coverage.

Now the administration is supporting a misguided excise tax on the premiums of some health plans that is in the bill passed by the Senate. This excise tax will affect many of the health plans covering our members. The Senate bill will either impose a tax on health care premiums provided to thousands of America's fire fighters, or to avoid the tax those benefits will be slashed.

I want to make sure every leader and member in this union knows the truth, which is that under this bill every special interest seemed to get something good – the insurance companies, the doctors, the drug companies all get something.
But, in the Senate bill, many of our members who have sacrificed for years to build solid health plans to protect their families will get screwed.
The deal isn't done, yet. The health care reform bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives does not contain this unacceptable tax and the leadership in the House, to date, is standing strong with us -- with 190 members of the Democratic Caucus signing a letter opposing the excise tax.

We applaud our House allies for their courage in waging this battle. And your union is continuing to fight to keep the excise tax out of the final bill.

We have made it clear to every senator and representative on Capitol Hill and to the president that we are fully and completely opposed to this tax and we will not compromise on it.

Rest assured that we are prepared to hold every elected official accountable on this issue, including the president.
I will update you again soon on the progress of this bill. 

In Solidarity,

Harold A. Schaitberger
General President