Pay Parity

So here we are, a couple of months in on this blog, website, historical archive, whatever you would like to call it and whether or not you enjoy reading it or not, and I have not really voiced my opinion about anything. As those of you who know me I do have an opinion right or wrong, whether you are in agreement or not. Others of you who know me call me to find out the scoop on rumors, lies, and the like. Yet most of the guys/gals who I come into contact with on a regular basis see me as their Union contact. They ask me what the Union is doing about this or what the Union is doing about that. So I have tried to make it a point to know what is going on in the Union, which can easily be achieved by going to the meetings.

Ok so I have laid out the reason why I am writing about the Pay parity.

The article in the Roanoke Times today by Todd Jackson spoke of the City Council's final decision on when pay raises would be dispersed and what the pay raises consisted of. There was talk of 4% across the board in Jan '06. This outraged most city workers because they thought, for good reason, that the delay was due to funding the sheriff's and Firefighters getting an additional 4% to match the 4% the Police Officers got in January. So City Council decided after many talks with various city workers and city organizations to give 3% in July.

The extra 4% that the sheriff's and Firefighters are getting is outraging many city workers. These other city workers do not know why they should not be getting the same money's, and wonder what separates them from the Sworn Public Safety Workers. Brenda Hamilton seems to think that every city worker is in a potential line of fire because they work in the public setting. BLAH. Brenda Hamilton is the elected Clerk of Circuit Court. Sheriff George McMillan responded to Hamilton's remark by saying that his department would be glad to work with her on security issues. I think that Hamilton's office should be outfitted with turnout gear, a ladder truck, and proper training. However I think that when a call comes in she should be told that only 3 people can leave on the truck and that they must perform search, rescue, ventilation, CO monitoring, forcible entry, and whatever anyone else asks of them.

Let me also state that I am very grateful in getting the 4% that the Police Officers got. I know that I received it because of the work of our Chief and Union President. I also know that if the Officers hadn't received it then we wouldn't have had a chance at getting it. The reason they got it in the first place is because the turnover rate is high and they were working about 30-50 people short. So it was used as a recruitment/retention tool. I think it is great.

So I just had to comment on this. Before you ask me what the Union is doing for you why don't you ask yourself what you are doing for the Union. The RFFA is only as strong as it's members and it's members are only as strong as the RFFA.