I mean who the heck doesn’t support our troops getting a wage commensurate with the positions they hold. That is a no-brainer! I just don’t feel good about any of the administrations words on this though. First of all bumping up the wage from $13 to $15 fixed nothing and addresses a very small part of the elephant. Second of all why in the heck have we allowed a time limit on this bump in pay? That totally makes this a bribe!
This doesn’t take any bites out of the elephant it just feels like a pay-off. Third and last thing is that from the tone in POTUS statement it sure feels / sounds like more of the same yadda yadda we’ve had for years. Think about it - he’s acknowledging that the pay system is broken and wants to fix it and btw we need to also fix the assistance programs that are slammed AND find more pathways to bring more people into the broken system. I’m not making this up am i? So confused and worried for our troops. This does NOT feel like progress to me and i know it should…
There’s definitely some lip service going on, but that’s to be expected with politicians. I’ve been very cautiously optimistic since the BIL was signed last year. But there are some small victories to celebrate today. It’s across the board for primary and secondary fire. It factors in overtime (and hopefully hazard pay, which was suspiciously not mentioned in today’s announcement). And it’s supposed to be in the hands of at least some of the workforce by the end of the month. Plus, and this is my opinion, it came out as a press release from the White House. That indicates that it’s seen as an issue that politicians can get behind with popular support. It’s still a bandaid on a gaping, festering wound but we’ve got a tiny bit of momentum. We all need to keep pressure on our elected representatives to pass the Tim Hart act. Keep pestering them and ask all your family and friends to do the same. They’ll listen if enough of their constituents ask them to.
https://www.grassrootswildlandfirefighters.com/make-congress-aware-of-tims-act
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
I want to feel better about all this and i don’t - thankfully its not about me. I appreciate your words and perspective. Will keep trying to spool up Feinsteins office. Keep hammering!
I agree:
A press release at the beginning of fire season
Too little too late
A sunset clause (2 years)
All politically motivated (sad)