Firefighters Union Will Throw Support to Kerry, Officials Say
The New York Times - By Steven Greenhouse - September 19, 2003

The International Association of Fire Fighters will endorse Senator John Kerry for president next week, union officials said yesterday, making it the first union to endorse a Democratic presidential candidate other than Representative Richard A. Gephardt.

Harold Schaitberger, the firefighters' president, declined to discuss his union's plans, but labor leaders who have talked with him said the union would back Mr. Kerry because its leaders thought the senator was the most electable Democrat...

Labor leaders said Mr. Schaitberger had questioned Mr. Gephardt's electability and planned to campaign all-out for Mr. Kerry. In two weeks, these labor leaders said, Mr. Schaitberger, whose union has 260,000 members and is the largest for firefighters, plans to appear with Mr. Kerry in New Hampshire, the first primary state, alongside hundreds of firefighters...

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