IAFF Under Fire for Not Endorsing Female Presidential Hopefuls

The International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) is under fire after declining to endorse a candidate in this year’s presidential election.

The union, which represents over 350,000 full-time fire fightersand emergency workers, announced Thursday that the group’s executive board voted by 1.2 percent not to support Vice President Kamala Harris nor former President Donald Trump. It is only the second time that the group has refused to back a Democratic presidential candidate since 1960, the only other time being in 2016 when Hillary Clinton was on the ballot.

“The IAFF Executive Board determined that we are better able to advocate for our members and make progress on the issues that matter to them if we, as a union, are standing shoulder-to-shoulder,” said General President Edward Kelly in a statement. “This decision, which we took very seriously, is the best way to preserve and strengthen our unity.”

The announcement was a major blow to Harris, who had suffered another union setback two weeks ago after the International Brotherhood of Teamsters made a similar decision. But it is also a significant defeat for a female presidential candidate.

IAFF, which was the first union to endorse Joe Biden in 2020, has supported every Democratic candidate since 1960, minus Harris and Clinton—the only two women to ever appear at the top of the ticket for a major political party.

“It’s not a surprise at all—though still disappointing—that [IAFF] would not endorse the candidate who is most pro-union and pro-worker—and it is indeed likely because Kamala Harris is a woman,” Katherine Spillar, the executive director at the Feminist Majority Foundation, a women’s advocacy group, told Newsweek.

Firefighting remains one of the most male-dominated workforces in the country, with women accounting for only 9 percent of all firefighters in the country, according to statistics from the 2020 US Fire Department Profile.

Data from Women in Fire, an organization dedicated to championing female leadership and participation within the fire and emergency services, also shows that more than 80 percent of the approximately 90,000 female fighters in the U.S. hold volunteer positions. Of the over 22,000 fire chiefs in the country, only 6 percent are women.

Spillar, who called the industry “one of the most hostile to women who attempt or succeed to joining their ranks,” said it was “no coincidence that it is only in the presidential races that have featured women at the top of the ticket that the fire fighter’s union has failed to endorse.”

Christian F. Nunes, the president of the National Organization for Women, told Newsweek that while the group does not know what went into the IAFF’s decision, it was “disappointing” that the union has never endorsed a female presidential nominee.

“Women who have reached a presidential nominee have already surpassed extraordinary leadership levels in their careers,” Nunes said. “We hope that IAFF’s endorsements will change in future presidential races.”

Newsweek contacted the IAFF, the Harris campaign and Clinton for comment via email.

Last month, Teamsters, which represents more than 1.3 million workers, also rejected both presidential hopefuls, making Harris the first Democrat in more than two decades not to secure the union’s backing.

“Unfortunately, neither major candidate was able to make serious commitments to our union to ensure the interests of working people are always put before Big Business,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in September.

Harris has won the endorsements of all other major labor unions, including AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers, which represent millions of workers combined.

Even though she did not secure IAFF’s support, a union representing Minnesota firefighters broke with its larger union’s decision on Thursday, endorsing Harris in light of the IAFF’s non-endorsement.

“This endorsement is not just about politics,” the Minnesota Professional Fire Fighters President Scott Vadnais told CBS News. “It’s about protecting the well-being of the public and ensuring that our members are recognized and supported for the essential work we do. We’re confident that the Harris-Walz team will prioritize the safety of Minnesota’s communities and continue to champion the needs of first responders.”

The local union represents more than 2,000 firefighters, paramedics and dispatchers. It’s endorsement follows a similar move made by Midwestern Teamsters last month. Several local Teamster unions broke ranks with their national union to endorse Harris and Walz, calling them “proven champions for Union workers.”