We received an email this morning from Bill Kugelman.  Younger members may not remember Kugie, he was a Chicago Fire Department Chief, and Local 2 Union President.  Kugie is now running the Fire Museum of Greater Chicago.

Michael Lass with J. Dale Berry are legends in Illinois.  These labor leaders, and others like them did far more then help firefighters get a contract.  Labor Leaders and organizers, like Mike Lass made our country safer.  Without Mike Lass we wouldn’t be as safe a city as we are today.  We sometimes overlook how great we are at protecting life, preserving property, and promoting safety.  Without our manning, our training, our experience and commitment, a city like Chicago would be a very dangerous place to live.

The picket line during the Chicago Firefighter strike of 1980

This is a gut wrenching email, Michael Lass of the IAFF is preparing to pass away.  Michael’s wife Yolanda Lass was a Chicago Firefighters Local 2 secretary, and she passed away several years ago.  Below is a copy and paste of Kugie’s email verbatim:

I was notified today that Mike Lass has 2-6 weeks of life left to him because of cancer that has flared again in his body.

For those of you who don’t know who Mike is;  He was the IAFF staff rep that, along with Atty. J. Dale Beary, were the 1980 guiding lights  for CFFU Local 2s contract fight/strike.  If it wasn’t for the expertize and leadership of these two there would be no collective bargaining for us or the rest of Illinois Firefighters.  Our strike was the last FFs in Illinois and led to state passed legislation that produced a collective bargaining bill for ALL public service employees.  Police, Fire, etc.

Mikes wife Yolanda was a secretary of L2 also during those days and passed away several years ago.

Your thoughts and prayers are something we can do in return for the loyalty and generosity of these two union people.

Sometime in the future the AFFI will sponsor  a memorium in Mikes name.  Mike was also the President of the Evanston Local and was well respected, somewhat feared, by management across the state because of his sometime caustic and hard-nosed attitude during negotiations.  Something unheard of at present times.

Bill Kugelman
2619 W. Agatite St.
Chicago, IL 60625

Evanston AFFI Firefighters Local #742 posted an amazing tribute to Michael Lass and J. Dale Berry.  If you can watch this without becoming emotional, you are not an American, and may not be a human.  The sacrifices made to protect our cities through better fire service was driven by the sacrifices of Michael Lass.

Brian Scott, the President of the EFD Evanston Firefighters Association IAFF Local 742 posted on the Local 742 website a banquet will be held on June 27th, 2010 to honor the life and achievements of Mike Lass.  Please contact Brian for tickets in advance. The post below is from J. Dale Berry, Dave Foreman and Brian Scott:

Brothers and Sisters:

One of our own and a legend in the firefighter labor struggle, Mike Lass has been stricken with cancer.

J. Dale Berry and AFFI President emeritus Dave Foreman have organized a banquet honoring his life and achievements.

Mike led many firefighter strikes throughout Illinois in the 70′s and 80′s that forced the passing of our collective bargaining bill in 1985.

Under Mike Lass, he negotiated our first contract in the 60′s and led our local, the first in Illinois, on strike in 1974.

A presentation on the fiery struggle of Illinois firefighter union labor and strikes will be presented.

Please save the date and try to attend this important event.

Local 742 should have a strong presence at this event. Mike was our President and has honored our local with his achievements.

Please call me at the number below for tickets.