As involved in politics as I once was, I was able to learn a lot…Much of what I learned is that most of our battles are uphill and can only be won with sheer numbers of lobbyists (individual informed firefighters), time, and determination.
More recently that thought process has changed. We need help. We need a lot of help! We are fighting legislation that will set us back more than 50 years. We stand to lose many benefits and rights that some of us have been cozy with for a long time. These are rights that we signed on with. When I got hired, part of the reasoning for taking the job was the light at the end of the tunnel…my pension. Even at the ripe old age of 22, I had my sights set on the reward for a career and lifestyle in public service. My pension, to me, was payment for a dangerous job and less then glamorous pay. I am now half way through my career and beginning to think that in the very near future I might be fighting for that pension locally just as so many firefighters are fighting for elsewhere.
Collective bargaining is a little different for me. That was more of a dream working in Virginia where we do not and have never had collective bargaining. Up until last year, I thought that collective bargaining was within reach. I didn’t view it as a way to fatten my pay and benefits…I actually saw it as a means to regain some of the benefits that were stripped from me….benefits that I had and enjoyed when I got hired. They have taken from me and my family and I wanted it back.
In addition, collective bargaining might have helped with getting a raise in the past 4 years. Four years without a raise…yet groceries, health care, gas, and everything else continues to rise in price. When I say “no raise”…I mean nothing at all. Not even a cost of living raise.
But my issues are small in comparison to others…
Most firefighters rely on other firefighters to fight their battles. Whether it is the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), State Professional Firefighter Associations, Local IAFF Chapters, or even the National Volunteer Fire Council…these organizations are run by firefighters. Whether on staff or voluntarily working for the good of the organization they are only as strong as their membership. Not all of us participate for one reason or another…unfortunately.
Recently, we have had others assisting in lobbying for us. Case and point – Jon Stewart on The Daily Show and MSNBC’s Ed Schultz. Firefighters also have many legislators fighting in their corner. Unfortunately, many of them are outnumbered by the opposition.
So many firefighters have been fighting for collective bargaining for years…and now that fight has swayed to keep collective bargaining for the ones who already have it.
Now our pensions are under attack. Our pensions, and our salaries are being scapegoated as the reason for budget deficits. We are the problem according to some.
Wisconsin Firefighters were spared from a recent Union busting bill even though they were there to fight against it. I can imagine why…we all know what is next…including public safety to save even more money and put public safety at risk. Ohio firefighters are still fighting the passage of Senate Bill 5 which strips public workers of collective bargaining rights…including police officers and firefighters. (read more) Senate Bill 5 is here
Bill Maher had a great debate on March 9th with Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN), Paul Begala, Former Representative Tom Davis (R-VA), Dana Loesch, Bill T. Jones. This is a must watch for every firefighter! It gives great insight into what the two sides of the aisle think about pensions and collective bargaining.
And…we are are worst enemies. We are counter-productive. We have some who make us all look bad. Damage control is not easy when any and EVERY bad story related to a firefighter makes it in the evening news or in print.
Luckily for the attackers, they don’t have to look far to point the finger. Look at Clark County, Nevada. Some firefighters are being accused of sick leave abuse. There is no doubt in my mind that some of the firefighters are guilty from the reports. Is it as widespread as the media leads you to believe…probably not. But this issue now has people looking at firefighter salaries under a microscope. Who wins? It sure as hell won’t be the Clark County firefighters. They are experiencing the wrath of bad publicity and are getting the cold shoulder from the very people they are sworn to protect. (story here)
Where do these bad apples come from? You know, the ones who make the evening news and make us look bad. Maybe it is from the lowered expectations in hiring procedures. Look at a recent story by the Washington Post on the hiring practices of FDNY titled Firehouse Flunkies.
Related: The Dayton Police Department is lowering their expectations as well (story here).
Unfortunately, hiring practices like the ones linked to above are out of firefighters hands….we will reap the benefits though (sarcasm).
And yet with all of this we all continue to do our jobs…sometimes in terrible conditions. Check out a recent update on plans to fix a worn out firehouse in Cleveland here. I didn’t even bring up brownouts, furloughs, pay cuts, layoffs, and many other issues affecting us today.
The International Association of Firefighters are currently in Washington D.C. for their Annual Legislative Conference. There is no doubt in my mind that these Pension attacks and Union busting will be on the forefront of the itinerary.
The IAFF has created a UStream channel for the next couple of days where you can watch the events. Check out IAFFFightsBack.com.
And if you are wondering what you the firefighter can do to help…simple…get involved!
Such narrow minds. Do you think the fire service is the only profession in this country that is having to make cuts?? Everyone is taking cuts!! But since you are a big hero fireman you shouldn’t have to??
Studly…you obviously don’t know me…I am not big and I am not a hero fireman.
I am a firefighter…plain and simple.
I have had cuts…I explained that in the article.
and no, the fire service is not the only profession taking cuts.
The fire service is talked about in this article because this is a blog about firefighting.
If I wrote about how the teachers are taking cuts I wouldn’t be hitting my audience.
or I could write about how Police Officers are taking cuts…but again it wouldn’t be hitting my audience.
Then again I could pick any profession that has “public employees” in many states and talk about how they are having cuts and losing collective bargaining rights.
I digress.
Your comment is only interesting in that it starts with “such narrow minds”…
Studly…You seem to conveniently forget that when many in the private sector were getting huge bonuses and salaries, not to mention all expense vacations and other perks (I don’t remember ever getting a bonus for there being less emergencies or working harder when it was expected of us), Firefighters were getting raises that barely kept up with inflation. Many of us accepted that because we knew if we lived to see our retirements, us and our families could live comfortably. Now it seems that there is a HUGE bunch of people that have forgotten the sacrifices we have already made to keep our pensions and right to be treated fairly intact. The prevailing mentality of the far right has made me ashamed to admit I once considered myself a die-hard Republican. I agree that it’s interesting that your post starts with “Such narrow minds”. Congratulations You’re one of them! And by the way – I haven’t had a raise in over 4 years, my medical insurance deductible has gone up 400% and inflation has made my paycheck barely pay for neccesities. I’m not alone as nearly every other Firefighter in this country is in a similar situation. So here’s a news flash – FIREFIGHTERS HAVE AND WILL CONTINUE TO TAKE CUTS!!!!!
Triple J…you bring up a great point….that this isn’t the end. They make their cuts and leave us alone for a short period and then they come on back with the scalpel again!
Triple J, lots of people who are trying to make ends meet so that they can pay your salary and benefits haven’t had a raise in years either, have no defined benefit pension (or an undefined pension, or a pretend pension, or any other kind of pension), and pay for a lot more of their health insurance (if they even have any) than you will for your next 5 contracts.
Meanwhile their taxes are going up, gas is going up, the kids keep outgrowing their clothes, but their paycheck sure isn’t going up.
There is. No. Money. You don’t have to be “a die-hard Republican” to see it.
You just have to live in in reality.
What alot of people fail to realize is that public safety is one of the only jobs out there that constantly deals with cuts but has to maintain the same level of service delivery.
We cant simply just stop providing services.
I agree with you Rhett while everything is getting expensive we are not seeing any additional money, with everything we go through, and the risks we take the LEAST we should get is a retirement pension. The sad fact is we are in a job where our time is limited, we get a certain window to work and once that is gone, its gone. I know people with office jobs working into there 70′s becuase its not hard, but blue collar workers just cant do it, we need that pension to live the next 30 40 years of our life.
The best defense against further cuts to your department is a great offense by your department! I too have not had a pay raise in the last 4 budgets, nor is there one even on the horizon. What we are doing in our department is a blitz attack with increasing our services to our community. We have started helping the crossing guard at our local elementary school, while handing out fire safety tip sheets to the parents as they bring them to the school. Last week we had a display of smoke detectors and batteries as a reminder to everyone to change the batteries when they change the clocks, along with free blood pressure checks. All this occurred at our local Super Walmart, with probably more than 2,000 people coming into the store that day. Our “citizen Assist” calls are up well over 200% in the last two years alone. You must integrate your department into every aspect of the community, so that when the number crunchers come to your door, and make no mistake, they are coming, the people themselves will throw the buggers out, and you may not even have to say a word. We have been inside our own little worlds for far too long. We must get to know the people we are protecting, and they will get to know us as well. This is the same exact reason that police departments instituted “beat cops”. We have even started up follow-up calls to people that we responded to, to see how they are doing. That doesn’t cost very much at all, just a little time and effort, but will have huge returns in the future when we will be the ones needing rescue!
There is merit to your comment. Certainly that is one way of providing the public with more of an opportunity to see us.
In my department this would have to come from the top down…and I don’t think they would get it.
You are definitely right about the departmental leaders having to “get it”. Fortunately for me, our acting Chief does, and is actively looking for inexpensive ways we can positively interact with our community. I am a 24 + year career F/F and before the financial crisis hit the country, we were not so visible. We did the fire prevention week thing, a few fund raisers for the Red Cross, but that was it. I know every sector of the economy is in tough shape, but I do also think that there are many business owners, and executives that are taking full advantage of the situation to undo contracts, renegotiate positions to help shore up their profit margins. To quote the venerable Benjamin Franklin during the start of the Revolutionary War, “We must all hang together, or we shall all surely hang separately”.
I wanted to clarify that I think that all of us as American workers, private or public sector, need to be standing together, looking out for each other, or we shall all go down individually.
In the spirit of full disclosure I need to state I am a volunteer firefighter and think fhe pay and benefits provided for most if not all public safety workers is horrible. With that said you have to realize how the private sector has been for some time. Raises? Have not had one in 3 years, first of this year I had a vacation canceled the day I was supposed to fly out, the money for the flight was gone. Bonuses? Maybe the upper management but the little people don’t get those. My work week has went from 40 hours to 50 and the responibilies have increased 5 fold. The concept of banking your vacation, sick or holiday time is unknown at my job. Matter of fact I lost 15 days of vacation time this year and there is no pension. I don’t have a solution just know saying I haven’t had a raise in x years doesn’t cut it when other people not only haven’t had a raise but due to cost cutting are now doing the jobs of 3 co-workers that got “right sized”. With all that said I still don’t think they pay career guys nearly enough just trying to show you the other side of the mirror.
I understand the other side as well.
I also understand why you left your comment. You are bothered by it as well.
And to be clear, I could have written a thesis on the pay and benefits issues throughout the Nation and beyond…Maybe “Studly” would have appreciated that broad view.
The reason why I wrote what I did and didn’t expand to include so many other issues in other jobs etc. is because that isn’t what this blog is about.
Thank you for taking the time to write this. (I’m behind on reading blogs this week due to a crazy deadline week, so hence the Sunday morning comment.) I’ll be linking to it today for my Weekly Favorites. (Tonight. I have another full day and won’t have free time until after the kids are in bed. Life is crazy busy right now!)