Campaigns signs in the city say that "Your firefighters support OD Harris and Rocha-Miller". Who is behind the campaign? What is its purpose?
A firefighter in deep blue Los Angeles made over $500,000 a year. Most pubic school teachers in Chicago sit on 6 figure salaries with very generous benefits. Of course firefighters and teachers are valued, and need to be paid fairly. But are such salary levels fair or are they the result of public sector employees influencing public policy, in a sense employees - public sector staff - controlling their bosses - politicians?
Public sector unions routinely support political candidates in order to advance union friendly policies, often pushed by Democratic Party politicians, that usually are a bad deal for tax payers and private sector workers. The term Union-Dem describes a unionized non-college educated (working class) Democrat. Joe Biden is relying on this voting block, which is at risk of deserting because the identity politics pushed by the radical left - another major voting block - is at odds with the often white Union-Dems.
The campaign signs claiming that your firefighters support OD Harris and Rocha-Miller for Chandler City Council appear to be paid for by a group called Independent Voices Arizona. Their website, archived here, says that the group is funded in major parts by the Arizona Professional Firefighter PAC and the Phoenix FF Local 493 Fire PAC Committee. Both appear to be political action committees.
PAID FOR BY INDEPENDENT VOICES ARIZONA. NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE’S COMMITTEE. MAJOR FUNDING BY THE AZ PROFESSIONAL FIREFIGHTER PAC AND PHOENIX FF LOCAL 493 FIRE PAC COMMITTEE.
The cities of Phoenix and Tuscon, deep blue, have long recognized public sector unions, and hence conduct negotiations with them, instead of negotiating individual contracts based on performance. Their problems with crumbling roads, high crime, financial deficits and high taxes are a direct result of these policies.
Local 493 does appear to have a Chandler Chapter and it is likely that the goal of the action of supporting OD Harris and Cicely Rocha-Miller is to support City Council candidates and members that support unions, to the detriment of other citizens and tax payers. This is part of the descent of Chandler into urban machine politics dominated by public sector unions which in turn support big-spending Democrats.
The Valley Telegraph is currently looking into determining how many Chandler Firefighters are actually members in Local 493.
Historically Chandler did not deal with unions, did not negotiate with them. But as the City descends into machine politics, this is changing. Hold on to your wallets.
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