I Should Have Been A Firefighter

[rz]

Mini 9 wrote:
Recent headlines:

Average gubmint employee makes $123,000 per year.



http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/1...1340.shtml

Their pay and benefits averaged $123,049 in 2009, up 36.9 percent since 2000. Private workers averaged $61,051, up just 8.8 percent during the same time.

I call Bull$hit on that. Go to www.opm.gov and look up the salary tables. Here's a link: http://www.opm.gov/oca/10tables/html/gs.asp

The VAST majority of federal workers are on the GS schedule (or the WG schedule, where the pay is even lower) and the vast majority of them are at or below the GS-11 level. I'd like to know how they calculate the benefits. Long gone are the days that federal employees didn't pay into social security. Health care is affordable, but not free. And in the technical sector, even though the "average" federal employee in a scientific/engineering position makes more than the "average" private sector employee, they make FAR less than scientists/engineers in the private sector. The last study I saw determined that, salary-wise, the federal scientist/engineer makes between 20 and 25% LESS than his private sector counterpart.

[SDGuy]

Mini 9 wrote:
Recent headlines:

Average gubmint employee makes $123,000 per year.



http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/08/1...1340.shtml

Their pay and benefits averaged $123,049 in 2009, up 36.9 percent since 2000. Private workers averaged $61,051, up just 8.8 percent during the same time.

No, their paycheck does NOT equal $123K. Those numbers include a calculated value for health care and leave time. Also - do "Private workers" include all those people earning minimum wage? For the most part, the Federal Government does not have minimum wage type jobs. A better comparison would be wage + benefits comparison for similar jobs - Engineer vs. Engineer, Project Manager vs. Project Manager, etc. Not Engineer vs. DoYouWantFriesWithThat...

[Grateful11]

>"When my dad was on the railroad there was a story published about how the highest paid guy on Amtrak
was a porter based out of Chicago who would take any overtime he could get and cashed in his vacations.
He made more than the CEO"

I do work for a railroad and we had a guy, a carman, that made about $82K a year by working all the OT
he could get which was 12 hours a day 5 days a week. He was the local shop chairman for the his union
so he controlled the OT board for his craft. Unless the CEO of Amtrak made a very small sum back then
I don't see how a Porter could make more than the CEO.

BTW: Railroad workers don't pay into Social Security just Medicare and Railroad Retirement.

[lafinfil]

Grateful11 wrote:
>"When my dad was on the railroad there was a story published about how the highest paid guy on Amtrak
was a porter based out of Chicago who would take any overtime he could get and cashed in his vacations.
He made more than the CEO"

I do work for a railroad and we had a guy, a carman, that made about $82K a year by working all the OT
he could get which was 12 hours a day 5 days a week. He was the local shop chairman for the his union
so he controlled the OT board for his craft. Unless the CEO of Amtrak made a very small sum back then
I don't see how a Porter could make more than the CEO.

BTW: Railroad workers don't pay into Social Security just Medicare and Railroad Retirement.

This was over 15 years ago and the Chicago Tribune ran a story about him. He was a porter and worked out of Chicago
to the west coast. He would stay on the train all the way out and back then take a day off and go again. The porters were
probably not limited by require hours of rest like the engine crew and guys in the shops (and they get tips too!)

[Grateful11]

lafinfil wrote:
[quote=Grateful11]
>"When my dad was on the railroad there was a story published about how the highest paid guy on Amtrak
was a porter based out of Chicago who would take any overtime he could get and cashed in his vacations.
He made more than the CEO"

I do work for a railroad and we had a guy, a carman, that made about $82K a year by working all the OT
he could get which was 12 hours a day 5 days a week. He was the local shop chairman for the his union
so he controlled the OT board for his craft. Unless the CEO of Amtrak made a very small sum back then
I don't see how a Porter could make more than the CEO.

BTW: Railroad workers don't pay into Social Security just Medicare and Railroad Retirement.

This was over 15 years ago and the Chicago Tribune ran a story about him. He was a porter and worked out of Chicago
to the west coast. He would stay on the train all the way out and back then take a day off and go again. The porters were
probably not limited by require hours of rest like the engine crew and guys in the shops (and they get tips too!)
You're right about the rest periods, didn't think about that. Engineers and Conductors are pulled from
trains after so many hours on the train. The railroad is one the strangest places one could ever work,
they'll actually put you in a taxi and drive you from one state to another to put on a train to take over
for another crew and then you might get laid over in a motel for a day or two waiting for another train
to another location. Then there's safety, safety meeting at least twice a day and stretching exercises
with each meeting. The rule book we have is about an inch thick, the folks out on the track have even
more rules.

[maco]

lafinfil wrote:
OK - he's listed as an Engineer which I believe means is has risen through the ranks and no longer mans the hose
but is the guy that drives the truck and/or operates any pump equipment. Basically the highest rank on the truck
and his base salary (probably hourly per contract) is in line with what the other engineers base at.]

My guess is that the other pay is overtime (as noted) and buy back of his vacation and/or leave time.
He is the guy that will work anyones shift and would rather work that take vacations. Many small departments
find it cheaper to pay high overtime rather than add additional manpower (cost of training, retirement, benefits, etc...)

When my dad was on the railroad there was a story published about how the highest paid guy on Amtrak
was a porter based out of Chicago who would take any overtime he could get and cashed in his vacations.
He made more than the CEO

Everyone on the HBFD is either a Fire Captain, Chief, Engineer or Paramedic (with the exception of the Admin Asst).

[lafinfil]

Sounds like they have too much upper management, but that's probably because the pay is so good.

: -)

[decay]

the railroads also play lots of games - i know someone personally who keeps getting laid off/let go, then re-hired, repeat as necessary.

he's trying to get a job w/Amtrak, currently he drives cargo trains.

[Mike Johnson]

As the victim of a felony arson attack, I owe the local FD a lot. If they hadn't arrived quickly, my house might've been damaged. If they hadn't arrived at all, my house might've been destroyed.

So, two points.

First, does a fire department provide a net benefit? Do they save more in value than they cost in dollars? If they do, they're more than earning their pay.

Second, if it's such a crazy good deal, all those people who think it's outrageously generous should become firefighters. Put up or shut up. Really.

[Lee3]

Mike Johnson wrote:


Second, if it's such a crazy good deal, all those people who think it's outrageously generous should become firefighters. Put up or shut up. Really.

They are trying to. There are many qualified applicants.

I am surprised no one has mentioned the retirement with Cost of Living Adjustment. Some cities are paying more in retirement and disability payments than they pay for existing services. Oh and the disability is often wink wink not enough to stop them from playing golf.