Bargaining in Limbo

At the convention's end  however, Mr. Cassidy remained deadlocked in his contract talks with Mayor Bloomberg with no resolution in sight. The two sides aren't even scheduled to meet with a state-appointed mediator until Sept. 27.

The UFA leader couldn't resist taking a shot across the bargaining table following his Sept. 1 visit with Mr. Bush, Governor Pataki, their wives and a group of delegates at a Queens social hall.

"The Governor and President are thrilled to death about the endorsement. Mayor Bloomberg should take a lesson from that," Mr. Cassidy said.

Mayor Passes on Pizza

During his two-hour visit to the Italian Charities of America Hall in Elmhurst, Mr. Bush met Mr. Cassidy for the first time and shared some pizza while watching the convention on TV. Mr. Bloomberg, who has been dogged by protesting firefighters and police officers during public appearances, skipped the event.

Mr. Cassidy acknowledged that the endorsement would open doors for the union. "There are a lot of people in Bush's camp, and it's going to help us get access to them," he said. "But we didn't do it for that. We did it because it was the right thing to do."

James Slevin, the UFA's vice president and political director, said the union's board voted to back Mr. Bush on Aug. 29, the day before the convention began. But the decision was not unanimous.

Manhattan Trustee Rudy Sanfilippo and Sergeant-atArms Philip McArdle said they voiced a preference for Mr. Kerry, who received the early endorsement of the International Association of Fire Fighters and the city's Uniformed Fire Officers' Association.

Cassidy's Prime Critics

The two UFA officers have previously tangled with Mr. Cassidy over union issues, but are outnumbered on the nine-member board by Mr.Cassidy's allies, who all went with Mr. Bush.

Mr. Sanfilippo complained that Cassidy polled the board by phone rather than bringing them in for a face-to-face meeting, and said it wasn't clear that a final vote was being taken.

Mr. Sanfilippo complained that Mr. Cassidy polled the board by phone rather than bringing them in for a face-to-face meeting, and said it wasn't clear that a final vote was being taken.

The Manhattan trustee said he would have preferred a formal poll of the membership. Mr. Slevin replied that the union had been "polling our members all year" in face-to-face conversations.

Mr. Cassidy said the endorsement "absolutely" fit the mood of the city's firehouses, despite the different conclusions reached by other unions. "Did they take a poll of their members?" he asked of the IAFF. "Did the UFOA poll their members?"

Ground Zero Neglect

Mr. McArdle, the UFA's chief safety officer, said he found it impossible to support Mr., Bush after the Environmental Protection Agency's Inspector General revealed last year that a White House task force had toned down warnings about environmental hazards at Ground Zero.

Hundreds of firefighters who labored at the World Trade Center site were sickened from exposure to toxic dust and smoke, and many have developed disabling lung problems. "How am I supposed to feel about that?" Mr. McArdle asked. "This is not a popularity contest, it's about business. If this is a fraternity approach, we'll elect not the best one for the job but the one with the brightest smile."

UFOA President Peter L. Gorman said his board would stick with Mr. Kerry. "We stand by our international. We stand by the AFL-CIO," he said.

The IAFF and firefighters who support Mr. Kerry have pointed to flaws in Mr. Bush's record on firefighter issues, such as his willingness to allow Congress to only partially fund new Federal programs that provide grants to local fire departments and special death benefits for firefighters who die in the line of duty.

Overtime Concerns

The Bush Administration's recent overhaul of overtime regulations also has upset labor leaders across the country who contend the changes will allow more employers to avoid paying workers overtime.

Mr. Bush's supporters in the fire service point to the unprecedented new wave of direct grants to fire departments and promises of more to come.

"9/11 put us on the map, but under Bush we got new funding before 9/11," said Robert Timko, a Pennsylvania volunteer firefighter who serves on a "first responders" panel for the Bush-Cheney campaign.

Political campaign consultants for Democrats and Republicans agreed that the UFA endorsement of Mr. Bush will overshadow the IAFF's backing of Mr. Kerry.

'The Key Endorsement'

"I think it's hugely relevant. Nobody speaks with more authority on 9/11" than city firefighters, said Bill O'Reilly, a Manhattan-based consultant for Republican candidates. "If I were looking for one endorsement for a presidential campaign, it would be the firefighters."

Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic consultant, said the endorsement was "a good symbolic move" that could pull voters toward Mr. Bush in northern swing states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania.

The benefit for the UFA, however, is "not much, unless there's a deal we don't know about," Mr. Sheinkopf said. "They're getting national stature. For lobbying purposes, it could give them greater access to the Federal Government to get the funding the Fire Department has been asking for."

If anything, Mr. Sheinkopf said, the UFA's continued use of "pop-up" protests against Mr. Bloomberg during the convention has retarded the prospects for a contract agreement more than the endorsement has helped.

"They put Bloomberg in a corner, and now he can't look like a wimp in front of his Republican allies," the consultant said, before predicting Mr. Bloomberg and the UFA would not soon resolve their differences. "He's got to do this very slowly. I think maybe next year."