My concern isn’t so much with how much they make – it is the method used to determine how much they make. The city officials buy votes by upping union salaries, giving in to union bosses who are effectively thugs asking for protection money. There are likely significant kick-backs as well for the city officials.
This gives the union workers the ability to say “Hey – I didn’t choose my salary. That’s just what the city gives me.”
It also ends up unbalanced – where the higher-up union workers get treated well while the lower echelons get screwed.
So, yes firefighters and police deserve to get paid well, but they don’t deserve to have their salary set by under-the-table deals between city officials.
I can understand how a non-union city worker could get tired of hearing about overpriced city workers.
