Posted by Jonas on Wednesday, December 15, 2004 at 5:05PM :
In Reply to: OT - Your tax dollars at work... posted by Ken See on Wednesday, December 15, 2004 at 11:07AM :
Right now, we, the Firefighters of Seattle Local 27 are in battle with the city and our own fire chief (appointed by the city, imagine that!) over staffing issues. What we are trying to do is to get 4 man staffing on Fire engines in the city for safety, and better service for the citizens of the city. Think about it, A 4 man crew can do twice the work of a 3 man crew. This is not something we just dreamed up, it's a National Minimum standard, adopted by the National Fire Protection Agency.
Right now out of 40 engine companies, 11 are staffed with only 3 members. The city and Fire chief cant find the money to fund those positions, but the city seems to have no problem paying $600,000.00 for a porta-poty. That's right $600 large for ONE toilet for use buy the homeless in downtown Seattle. Oh, and it's not just 1 toilet, it's 5 of them, and a 5 year 1 million dollar mantinance contract to go with them. These are the fancy, self cleaning porta-potty's I guess.
The Fire chiefs answer is for each firefighter to work 3 extra hours a week. Sounds pretty good on paper, but what it amounts to is a extra 24 hour shift every 2 months without pay. We are already pulling a extra shift every 6 weeks.
Say you worked a standard 40 hour week, this would be akin to your boss asking you to work a 12 hour shift every other saturday without any pay.
Who's ready to sign up?
That's how I understand the whole thing anyway. But I'm just a knuckle draggin' fireman, not a negotiation lawyer... HaHaHa!!!
Follow Ups: