The Chronicle portrayed the proposed contract as a good thing, when in fact, the proposed contract would destroy a great deal of what the Houston Fire Department has worked toward for over a decade. Above all, the proposed contract would strip Houston Fire Department members of the ability to use accrued benefit time during critical months, preventing them from spending important dates with their families. It would also penalize them for using benefit time for doing so.

There are many slights such as this in the proposed contract. Truthfully, some of them will only be understood by firefighters, their families and friends. The proposed contract would demand firefighters to give up extremely important time with their families for a mere 4% increase in salary when the Houston Fire Department already trails far behind most other paid fire departments in the country.

This petition is to urge firefighters, their families and friends to boycott the Houston Chronicle for their one-sided, slanderous reporting of the Houston Fire Department. It is also a request that the boycott be continued until the Houston Chronicle chooses to report issues regarding the Houston Fire Department factually and without bias.