By Bobby Eustace
As a New York City firefighter, it is my honor to serve the citizens of our city. As the vice president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association, I am privileged to be tasked with protecting those who protect our city. I share the belief of many of my brothers and sisters that firefighting is not merely a job, but a calling. The vocational nature of our work may seem to preclude political action; but, when you work for the government, you are necessarily involved in politics. When it comes to politics, one of my favorite sayings is that if you’re not seated at the table, you will be on the menu.
In my role as the vice president, I’ve had the privilege of collaborating with many different elected officials. I approach every legislative session, every election, every meeting, every candidate with a singular lens: can they protect the best interests of our membership? One of our union’s greatest allies in the time that I have served has been Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato (D-Howard Beach), who represents the 23rd Assembly District in Queens and serves as chairwoman of the Governmental Employees Committee. In the time that I have known and worked with Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato, she has proven to be a successful advocate for the working class and prioritizes protecting our city’s civil servants, particularly our firefighters.
As chairwoman of the Assembly’s Governmental Employees Committee, Pheffer Amato has sponsored or co-sponsored several of the bills that were among the Uniformed Firefighters Association’s top legislative priorities. Many of our assemblywoman’s legislative victories were victories for the UFA, directly improving the quality of life for firefighters and their families.
During my tenure alone, Assemblywoman Pheffer Amato has helped to pass into law the following critically important pieces of legislation that protect our members during their active years, into retirement, and extend that protection to their surviving dependents upon their passing:
- Tier 3 (Tier 6) Three-Year Final Average Salary, which changed benefits our younger members by providing a three-year salary calculation for their pension (and all civil servants)
- EMS Buyback Bill, which allows members to obtain credit for years of service as an EMS worker
- Thyroid Presumptive, which includes thyroid cancers in the list of cancers presumed to be incurred in the line of duty and allows for disability retirement and medical coverage
- Widows’ COBRA, which enacts continued health insurance coverage for surviving spouses or domestic partners of our fallen members
- Widows’ COLA, which increases the special accidental death benefit for surviving dependents by 3 percent
Our union’s singular focus is to continue to enhance our members’ compensation, health, and benefits. At a time when the department is facing an influx of new hires that fall into a pension tier that still has many needs to be addressed, it is critically important that firefighters have a strong voice and one that carries significant weight within our State Legislature. Who better than someone who already has a well-established track record of getting things done?
Eustace is a firefighter assigned to Ladder Co. 27 and vice president of the Uniformed Firefighters Association.
