As the lead negotiator for six of the 11 fire departments/districts in Contra Costa County, I can assure you our pay varies significantly … It has been our practice to survey the salary and benefits of 32 Bay Area departments to use in contract negotiations. We have always pushed to be within the average of the top 10 Bay Area departments.
Even though this has been our charge, we have not been able to achieve this level of pay or compensation for the 15 years I have been here. We have always settled for contracts that were within the affordability of our jurisdictions. This is evident by the fact that we represent departments that are number 31 (Pinole Fire Department) and 32 (East Contra Costa County) out of the 32 Bay Area departments surveyed.
When it comes to the worth of a person, profession or service, it has always been debatable. Being a sports fan, I have been in many discussions regarding player contracts of quarterbacks, pitchers or basketball players. I have often questioned the pay of certain movie actors as well. I have often questioned their contribution to society as a measuring stick as to what they should be paid.
Should a guy who can dunk a basketball from the free-throw line make more than a pediatric nurse? Should Jim Carey make more money than a schoolteacher? This can be debated on many levels and has been. I guess if you were the private nurse, teacher, police officer, soldier or firefighter of a multimillionaire, then you could expect to be paid accordingly.
I believe that as a firefighter we will not be paid based on the services we provide, but on where we provide them. We understand that our pay scale is based on what money is available within the jurisdictions we work. I am offended, however, by those who question our worth. When people comment on our “overly generous benefits, retirements, or annual salaries” and say that we are paid too much, it does sting a bit.
No, many of us cannot throw a 90-mile-an-hour fastball, dunk from the free-throw line, we are not CEOs of major corporations and have not created software, cell phones or iPads.
I can tell you what I have done, though. I have done CPR on a 1-minute-year-old and a 105-year-old. I have gotten pulses and respirations back on someone who was dead. I have pulled people out of raging waters and from off of cliffs. I have pulled people out of burning buildings and cut people out of vehicles when they were trapped and bleeding to death. I have held dead children, mothers, sons, daughters and fathers. I have fallen through floors, roofs, broken my ankle, injured my back, injured my eye, shoulders, and have a lung condition that I will be lucky if I can retire at 50 with.
I have had to explain to too many family members about how we were too late when I knew it was because we were understaffed and underfunded. I have had to bury comrades and console the wives and children of many of our fallen. I have spoken at funerals and given out flags and medals to them as well.
I have been bitten, spat on, kicked, punched, vomited on, urinated on, bled on, crapped on, and called many racial slurs in the performance of my duties. I have once started an IV right through the middle of a swastika on an injured biker.
I have seen the results of child abuse, spouse abuse, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, smoking abuse and elderly abuse.
I have responded to the homes of hoarders and have seen suicides, murders and assault victims. I have images of burnt people, decapitations, gunshots to the head, lacerations, amputations, starvation– you name it; I have seen it.
I am not asking for any sympathy on this; it’s my chosen profession and I love my job. I just disagree that my compensation is “overly generous.”
In a response to the CoCoTimes editorial opposing the Tax measure, Vince Wells wrote:
"Does the author of this editorial doubt that the fire board will reduce their fire and emergency services July 1 if Measure S fails, or do they suggest that the community can do without them for the next 25 years?"
According to Mr. Wells, opposing the new Tax requires one to believe that:
a) Services will not be reduced, OR
b) We can do without them for the next 25 years.
I know of no one, supporter or opponent of the new Tax, who believes EITHER of these statements to be true.
Twentyfive years! Really Vince? That's the way you are going to frame this? Vote for this new Fire Tax NOW or live with the broken system for 25 years! How about we agree that if the tax fails the union will participate in meaningful negotiations that will allow the district to put a more reasonable and complete solution before the voters. Moving paramedics from the County payroll to the district payroll is certainly not a priority, and perhaps not even a good idea.
Ever since I read your article I have started researching Firefighters pay, benefits, etc. in Contra Costa County. And quite frankly, I have changed my vote of Yes on S..to NO on S. I don't have time to write all I would like to say to you, so I will keep this short. I did not retire with 90% of my pay at 50. I was lucky to get the 25% plus benefits and had to wait until I was 55.
You can't expect taxpayers to read about what the Fire Chiefs in this got as retirement..absurd..and then want to pay even more in taxes.
You need to reign in your superiors I guess..or do you bargain for them also?
I am a fed up taxpayer. Live within your means and take the same measures I have to when funds start getting low.
Do I sound angry...well I am..but not at the firefighters per say..the system, the people who negotiate with your unions, and just plain scare tactics you are using to get this passed.
We do not bargain for the Fire Chiefs, they deal directly with their boss. Most of the agencies in the county have eliminated the components of the retirement system that allow for retiring with more then you make. I understand the concerns everyone may have about the list posted by cocotax. Changes have been and continue to be made regarding final compensation. It will be a while before we see the results of these changes but they will impact the system tremendously as people are hired into new tiers. If you do comparisons, you will see that both the employees and employers pay a much hire cost for the same benefits as compared to the PERS system.
Regarding scare tactics, I don't know what to say, as a fire fighter we answer 911 calls. If we aren't available to respond or are responding from further distances, things will be worse by the time we get there, not sure of how else to say it. If I were a clerk in a supermarket and we were being cut, I would say that you will wait in line longer. A phone operator would say if you cut their staff, you will be on hold longer. We are just saying that if Measure S fails, Stations will be closed, firefighters will be laid off, response times will go up, and insurance rates will increase. That is the facts. As a fire fighter and the union president, we have fought long and hard to keep stations open by giving up raises and taking pay cuts. We are usually the ones who ask for adequate staffing and resources. We are the ones who do the job. Some politicians would love to cut the number of fire fighters in half.The more of us there are, the more effective we can be on an emergency. If it were about our salaries and benefits we would welcome the staff reductions, more money for us. Case in point, Measure S. If Measure S fails, the fire fighter staffing will be cut in half, that would mean more money for a pay raise when the economy improves. Anyway, again sorry that we lost your vote. This fire season has already over taxed our current system. Hopefully on June 5, the pension and fire fighter bashing will not prevail!