[quote=no_such_reality][quote=CA renter]
That means that the employee worked 4,652 hours that year (again, assuming MAX rate, it’s even more hours than that if working for below-max pay) — more than DOUBLE what a regular, full-time employee works.
[/quote]
I don’t think the base salary is on 2904 hours. I think that’s based on 2080 and they end up working a base of 2904 hours (OT not kicking in until the higher rules). If I’m wrong, then I’m even more right. 🙂
Seriously, 4652 is too many. It endangers the public. The high incomes (over based) is an indication of the mismanagement of the organization that is planning and allowing or not planning and forcing that much labor.
I’ve seen people work 70-80 hour weeks (going home every night) and within a month or two they are wrecked. Quality and efficiency goes way down. They may keep grinding 80 hours, but don’t really output more than 40 hours.
That’s the basic point, that the high salaries are indicative of gross mismanagement by the leadership of the organization. .
At the same time, the Union does not appear to really be fighting such overtime situations.
And counter to UCG’s point, the boots employees support the Unions and the Unions massively support the politicians and status quo. So people draw the line from Employee > Union -> Politician -> Status Quo
Now back to the 4652 hours. or even the lessor but still excessive hours needed to make nearly 50% more than the publish wage.
A) they work massive hours and get ground down by it and as you’ve said before, forced unto their multi-day shifts and just want to go home.
B) they are ‘at work’ but not really working (see lots of this in the private sector)
either of those two options lead to the following two conclusions
C) it’s mismanaged and endangers the public becuase we have people way over worked in critical safety roles.
D) they’re not overworked because they’re only “at work” so public is really getting gamed AND management allows it to happen.
I’m open to alternative scenarios. But franlkly, I’ll be thankful when the firefighters show up when we need them. I just hope it isn’t mister 4652 hours guy… I want them thinking clearly.
And contrary to others comments, the station isn’t about the high incomes, it’s about the mismanagement and apparent disregard of the stewardship of the public’s money.[/quote]
No, I’m pretty sure the base salary is for the 2,904 hours. IOW, they get paid those published salaries for the higher number of hours. Not sure how that would make you “more right.”
Yes, I would agree that the 4,000+ hours is too many. Of course, if you look at the numbers, that is ONE person — very much an outlier. S/he might have been working on wildland fires around the state (agencies work together and may pull FFs from different departments), and they have rules on those fires WRT rotations. Not saying s/he wouldn’t be tired, just saying that they do everything possible to prevent someone from becoming completely exhausted to the point of it being a safety issue.
Again, that one person’s O/T is an outlier. Even if they reduced his/her hours, someone else would still have to work the O/T. The city does NOT spend any additional money because of the O/T worked by this person.
It’s easy to sit in one’s armchair and accuse someone else of mismanagement, but the statistics speak for themselves. There are **very few** complaints filed against firefighters relative to the number of calls they respond to. To the contrary, go into any station, and you’ll see lots of cards and letters thanking them profusely for saving someone’s life and/or property. Chances are you’ll see baked goods and other gifts from the people whose calls they’ve responded to. Ask anyone who’s had the fire department respond to their call, and 99.999% of the time, you’ll hear nothing but high praise for their professionalism, skills, and courteous demeanor. You don’t get that for $10/hr.
FWIW, the guy (or gal) who works that much overtime compared to the others is one who usually volunteers for it. There are some who are very driven by money, and my guess is that one FF is one of them. While s/he might have been “forced back” for some shifts, based on the pattern, s/he’s doing it by choice. Other FFs greatly appreciate them because they tend to have fewer force-backs when these FFs are willing to take the O/T. Contrary to internet myths, this type of O/T is not at all a “perk.”
