The advocates “points” are lost on us, because the rest of us see the pay structure as intentionally built to defraud the tax payer. If you are blind to this, I seriously question your financial stake in the matter…
I can not think of a single blue collar job that pays half as well as a fireman. Furthermore, I can not think of a single job in which it is possible to log so much overtime (simply not enough hours in the day), and get paid for that overtime. Rel companies (the ones not trying to screw the taxpayer) try to limit the amount of overtime. I can not think of a single job where basic qualifications (such as a ACLS) is grounds for an 8.5% bonus. The min and max numbers are absurd because of all the hidden payments that fireman get.
Now I have no problem with fireman. I say, ride the gravy train as long as you can (I know I wouldn’t turn down an overcompensated salary). But what really pisses me off is when you can not be honest about the gross overcompensation. If their salaries are on the up and up, why all the hidden payments? Why all the flexible hours and time off provisions? Why all the disability pay to spike pensions? If fireman got payed like the rest of us, then we could have an honest discussion about pay. But their murky pay structure reeks of dishonesty and fraud. And it stinks that you can not see that.
BTW, people don’t get payed on their value to society (this view is a Utopian crazy world), people get payed according to the cheapest price that someone will do the work for. Maybe BFE has to pay their fireman 150k a year, but I am damn sure that san diego does not. I want more fire service in the city (esp in the fall). I just don’t want to pay so much per fireman, and I am sure that we don’t have to. Maybe when the good times are here again and everyone is making 6 figures we will have to readdress their pay. But maintaining trained fireman is not hard to do in this environment, they can take a pay cut like everyone else…
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