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Firefighters make $80,000 in concessions
Monday afternoon, the City of Ocean Shores and Ocean Shores Professional Firefighters Local 2109 announced finalization of an agreement of $80,000 in concessions.
“The City of Ocean Shores greatly thanks our Local 2109 Fire Fighters for giving up over $80,000 in concessions to help balance the City’s 2010 budget,” said Mayor Dean Bunkers, in a release. “Concessions such as these allow the City to maintain adequate public safety for our residents but also helps keep the doors open at the Library and Interpretive Center.”
Last year, the 11 Ocean Shores firefighters gave $28,000 in concessions to the city.
The previous $28,000 and this $80,000 in concessions comes to nearly $10,000 per union member.
“During this hard financial time it is imperative that we all work together to stay afloat as a city,” said Joel White, Local 2109 president.
“These concessions were not easy for us as a union. Our members are going to feel the pinch; I mean it will definitely affect each of our incomes. Our members make a comparable wage and are not by any means overpaid.
Ocean Shores Professional Firefighters are taking financial cuts and personal sacrifice to aid their City.”
Thank you to the firefighters!
Appalling to me that in a tiny city like Ocean Shores, government officials are paid so much…and yet, instead of looking at trimming this budget cost they keep the library open by negotiating with firefighters to make concessions. Politics as usual. These government officials individually make more money than almost every one of their counterparts in the state.
Whats next? What will they threaten to close next in order to force concessions??
I am told that being top heavy is good but not in government!
I think it is time to restructure the cops department.
They have a shared chief, a deputy chief and four sargents.
I think they should remove the deputy chief (like the fire department structure) and make the sargents handle the stuff the deputy chief used to do.
If they want to keep the deputy chief, get rid of the sargents positions (they just get returned to regular officers) (which would save a bunch of money too) and make the deputy chief work for a living.
I also think the beach rescue team should be disbanded. It costs the city a LOT of money and we have already had two of our people die while participating. (One from police and one from fire).
Any one of those restructuring scenarios would save over $80,000 a year and still keep the people of ocean shores safe.
I would like to add my thanks to the chorus for the concessions by the city’s firefighters. It demonstrates yet another commitment to the people they care for every day. Hopefully that “Safer” grant will come through and give them some relief on the hours they work as well. Thank you.
My congratulations to the EMS/firefighters for thinking so much of their community. Things sure have been silent over at the police department with their ratio of supervisors to officers of 1:1. It would be nice if an echo of this gesture would carry over next door.
More details please!
Do these concessions have to be paid back in the future? If so they are more of a loan than concessions.
“Our members make a comparable wage and are not by any means overpaid.” said Joel White, Local 2109 president.
Where are the references where this statement can be checked. Only statistics of comparable wages for a comparable work load can prove this.
This action by the firefighters is not a suprise to me at all. By character alone these are people that are willing to give of themselves to save others, and who have most recently been caught in the middle of a battle between administration dollars and deficits beyond their control, Yet they would endure constent public critisism about pay and cost of labor. These are our firefighters they respond quickly and answer our call during our darkest hour, and they have done the same for our great city. They have also helped in keeping our library and interpretive center open. I can’t thank them enough but I’ll try THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU…………..
Thank you firefighters, you rock!
THANK YOU firefighters from the bottom of our hearts. You have set a fine example. We hope the other unions will follow suit. We all need to do what we can in order to save our city.
As always it’s the firefighters that are giving concessions. Have you notices that none, and I mean NONE of the other unions will even come to the table. So all those that continue to critize the Firefights please remember that. Finnegan Spillane