FURTHER LEFT WING RADICAL FANATACISM !!!!
God the liberals despise this country and its traditions
Firefighters Ready to Sue
Over Local Christmas-Tree Ban
Thursday, December 7, 2000
Firefighters in Eugene, Ore., are threatening legal action there unless the city backs off on its decision to prohibit Christmas trees or any other religious symbols in work spaces or public areas during the holiday season.
The International Association of Firefighters local, with 160 members, is challenging City Manager Jim Johnson’s tree ban, calling trees in the city-owned fire stations an uplifting and integral part of a celebration for those firefighters who have to work during the holidays.
Said firefighter Matt Steinberg, who is Jewish: "I just shook my head and thought it was too bad that it had come down to that. What we're really striving for is blandness," he said about the policy. "It's not like people are running around being particularly religious all the time."
The city manager justified the prohibition as an attempt to "put a neutral face on a religious holiday in the workplace."
The only exceptions to the ban are at the city-owned Campbell Senior Center and for anyone who rents or leases the Hult Center or city airport spaces.
The city has also exempted a police station at the University of Oregon from the rule because it sits on land owned by Sacred Heart Hospital.
The firefighters' union has complained about what it calls the uneven enforcement of the ban and filed a grievance claiming the policy is a major change in a long-standing policy and should be subject to bargaining. The union will ask the state Employment Relations Board to force the city to bargain or arbitrate the policy.
Gary Nauta, president of the IAFF local, also questioned how far the city should go in defending the unpopular policy.
The White House
Dec. 23, 1995: Some people don't have problems with Christmas trees in the workplace.
"They're spending taxpayers' dollars to fight over this, which I think is absolute insanity," Nauta said.
Johnson responded, "It's the union that's forcing us to spend the money because they are filing the grievance."
Since the decision was announced, the policy has drawn heated comments from throughout the city and the country. Comments to the city and letters to the local paper, the Register-Guard, have overwhelmingly opposed the ban, and nationally syndicated radio shows have ridiculed the city.
It’s attention that city officials haven’t exactly welcomed.
"Honestly, I just wish that all of us would just get back to what we were doing so we can get on with life," said Lauren Chouinard, director of the city's human resources and risk-services department. "This is not a huge issue."
Chouinard said the city will not back down the policy.
"We don't set policy around here based on majority opinion," she said. "We do it based on what is the right path to take, and we stick to our guns. I am not compelled to change a policy simply because we get a lot of opposition." |
