"Mayor Giuliani's actions meant that firefighters and citizens who perished would either remain buried at ground zero forever, with no closure for families, or be removed like garbage and deposited at the Fresh Kills Landfill," said union President Harold Schaitberger in a draft letter to affiliates.

Giuliani, 62, leads the Republican presidential candidates in many polls and is favored in a matchup against Democratic frontrunner Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, a new poll of three swing states said.

"Many people consider Rudy Giuliani 'America's Mayor,' and many of our members who don't yet know the real story, may also have a positive view of him," Schaitberger said. We want "to make all of our members aware of the egregious acts Mayor Giuliani committed against our members, our fallen on 9/11, and our New York City union officers following that horrific day."

The head of two New York union chapters, Stephen Cassidy and Peter Gorman, also signed the letter.

In response, a Giuliani spokeswoman released a statement from Tim Brown, a former firefighter working with the campaign and head of "Firefighters for Rudy."

"We are honored by the support of so many first responders from across the country and are appreciative of their continued enthusiasm for Mayor Giuliani's candidacy," Brown said. "We look forward to future events and an ongoing conversation with America's firefighters."

The union said Giuliani decided on Nov. 2, 2001, to cut the number of firefighters who could search for the remains of their fallen brethren and other victims to no more 25 at one time, down from more than 300 involved in the search and recovery effort.

Before Giuliani's decision, 101 bodies or remains of firefighters had been recovered, according to the union.

Giuliani also began a "scoop-and-dump" operation to speed cleanup of the site as opposed to removing debris piece by piece "in hope of uncovering more remains," the union said.

The Washington-based union said that local union presidents tried to meet with Giuliani to stop the action, and the mayor refused to see them. It also said 15 protesting firefighters were arrested on Giuliani's orders. The union said public outrage ultimately compelled Giuliani to reverse his position.

"Our protests were later proven justified as more bodies were ultimately recovered and those families given a chance for some closure and a decent burial," the letter says.

The union says Giuliani was more concerned about the removal of gold, silver and other assets of the Bank of Nova Scotia that was buried beneath the rubble than he was of human remains.

"He valued the money and gold and wanted the site cleared before he left office at the end of 2001 more than he valued the lives and memories of those lost," the letter says.

Written by Deseret News