Firefighter meet and great with President Schaitberger

April 17, 2012 -- Harold Schaitberger, General President of the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), toured Portland Fire & Rescue’s Station 1 (Old Town) this morning, interacting with firefighters and chiefs and discussing issues facing firefighters today across the United States.  

President Schaitberger discusses challenges facing the fire service and work being done by the IAFF to keep firefighters safe and secure

IAFF President Schaitberger represents more than 298,000 professional firefighters and emergency medical personnel in every state in the U.S. and in Canada. He is the ninth president in the IAFF’s 92-year history, and was the first to have been elected by acclamation in 2000. He was re-elected to another four-year term in August 2008.  

President Schaitberger tours Station 1 in downtown Portland

Under President Schaitberger’s leadership, the IAFF’s Political Action Committee (PAC), FIREPAC, has grown to more than $4.6 million and ranks among the top one percent of PACs in the nation. He is committed to ensuring that the IAFF supports candidates and lawmakers who are friendly to firefighters and their issues, regardless of political party, has significantly enhanced the union’s power and influence at all levels of politics.

President Schaitberger and Portland Firefighters Association, Local 43 Union Board

President Schaitberger and Station 1 Firefighters

President Schaitberger also serves as a vice president of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA). The IAFF’s partnership with MDA has spanned nearly 55 years, and with a renewed commitment to a comprehensive fundraising process under President Schaitberger’s leadership, the IAFF has raised its support for MDA every year he has been president, including a record-breaking $28 million contribution to Jerry’s Kids in 2009.

To learn more about President Schaitberger, visit http://www.iaff.org/about/GP/bio.html.