Comments on: Contra Costa firefighters agree to defer pay raises

By: Doug Murphy

Doug Murphy — Wed, 27 May 2009 03:04:06 +0000

Vince, bottom line is that you guys are over compensated. I am not sure how you were able to persuade the citizens of Contra Costa County to support your lucrative deals. I understand fire fighting can be a dangerous job. Isnt working in construction or manufacturing also a dangerous job?

I would also like to point out that your fire district is going to change work schedules to a 48 hour shift. This again seems like a boon for the firefighters and a loss to the citizens.

I would be in favor of reducing the number of stations in the district. This would in turn directly cut overtime available to the firefighters.

How can you justify a firefighter (min. qualifications are a 2 year degree) making as much (if not more) than a doctor who spent 10+ years earning his MD (residency time included)?

The fact of the matter is that you have “Conned” (pun intended) the citizens of our county. I believe there are a 1000 qualified applicants for every job opening in the fire district. With that kind of ratio, the county should be paying you guys less. Basically, it is a simple model of supply/demand economics. The supply of qualified workers greatly outnumbers the demand. Therefore your salaries should be adjusted accordingly.

Doug

By: Vincent Wells

Vincent Wells — Sun, 03 May 2009 15:47:35 +0000

I would like to clarify a couple of the comments related to overtime for fire fighters.
First of all our overtime is based on the fact that we have thirty engines that are staffed 24 hours aday 7 days a week. 95% or our ovetime is to maintain that coverage. It is cheaper to pay overtime then to hire extra fire fighters. Secondly, our overtime is not used in our last year of service and cannot be applied to our retirement compensation.

By: ted ford

ted ford — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:00:10 +0000

Overtime is also used to game the retirement system. Retirement pay is based on the last year’s pay including overtime and unused sick leave. Often, the highest overtime is to firefighters and police during their last year of service. A not atypical example would see overtime boost a soon-to-retire police or firefighter’s last years’s earnings to $140k (or more) providing a retirement income of $125k plus cost of living adjustments and lifetime healthcare to someone as young as 51. Who in the private sector gets such a deal? It is the pension and healthcare deals that are killing the finances of the counties and municipalities. Unfortunately there are few politicians willing to stand up to the public sector unions….and that would include DeSaulnier, Garamendi, and Buchanan. As soon as you see “endorsed by public sector union”, start to worry.

By: Kris Hunt

Kris Hunt — Fri, 01 May 2009 14:59:45 +0000

Correction to prior post (I apologize for duplicate data that overstated totals) For 2008, 15 Fire District employees earned over $100,000 in overtime. 123 employees earned between $50,000 and $99,999 in overtime. Another 120 employees earned between $25,000 and $49,999 in overtime. Overtime totaled $15 million in 2008 while regular District salaries were $33.5 million.

A note of caution 1) Overtime, when used correctly is a valuable management tool and 2) not all employees benefit from overtime to the same degree.

Kris Hunt
Executive Director
Contra Costa Taxpayers Association

By: Kris Hunt

Kris Hunt — Fri, 01 May 2009 13:17:55 +0000

For 2008, 20 Fire District employees earned over $100,000 in overtime. 167 employees earned between $50,000 and $99,999 in overtime. Another 150 employees earned between $25,000 and $49,999 in overtime. The deferred (not forgone) raises, combined with extending the health care and retirement benefits and the generous overtime earnings should be viewed as a total compensation package. OT totaled $20.9 million in 2008 while regular District salaries were $46.5 million.

A note of caution 1) Overtime, when used correctly is a valuable management tool and 2) not all employees benefit from overtime to the same degree.

Kris Hunt
Executive Director
Contra Costa Taxpayers Association

By: Understanding employee compensation | A Better Oakland

Understanding employee compensation | A Better Oakland — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:04:11 +0000

[...] contract, but they could certainly agree to do so voluntarily to help balance the budget, as the Contra Costa fire fighters have recently [...]

By: John W

John W — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 02:11:52 +0000

Right, not even close to the structural fix that’s needed, but welcome nonetheless. I used to think that public employees and the unions would start to come around once confronted with the reality that 25% of their jobs would eventually disappear if the problem is not sufficiently addressed. However, I now sense that the only employees who feel that way are the 25% most exposed to job elimination.