You should probably add Feinstein’s twitter to that list.
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Fed agencies are now trying to figure out how to pay fed firefighters who make 13.45 an hour the Cali minimum wage which is 14.
Please don’t tell me you never saw this coming Vallejo. 
Where is the outrage from FAM regional employees, including GACC leadership.
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They don’t care. All they care about is getting a good performance appraisal and cash awards.
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This is not a role the GACC’s are involved in. Their mission is to move resources from fire to fire. Vallejo is where benefits are the starting point. Then the federal Wildland agencies HQ, followed by OPM and OMB. It’s the last two that could care less about making sure Federal Wildland Fire Fighters are being compensated fairly and correctly. They oversee so many Federal Agencies and the total amount of Federal Wildland Fire Fighters is so small, they are not going to do anything unless forced buy Congress or the White House.
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GACC’s in Cali have two Assistant Directors who have a voice and a vote at the table and who are assigned to represent forests. But thanks to the update on how GACC’s work.
Today Forest Service Firefighters were briefed on this afternoons BOD call where a regional office speaker said that R-5 Forest Service is working with the W.O. to implement portal to portal pay for Forest Service Firefighters. The speaker said this was the best method to get something implemented quickly. The information is being disbursed to the field for a few reasons, one is to hopefully stop more Forest Service employees from leaving. A decision is due quickly, however no timeline has been established. It’s unknown how or if this will work for DOI.
Ask your leadership what they know.
MHB
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Sure, they may throw PTP out there, you hit the nail on the head, they put it out there in order of hoping to stop the bleeding. The region still hasn’t seen the effects of the latest Calfire hiring, PG&E hiring and just the overall exodus from the agency.
Once again the business model doesn’t work. Forest supervisors and District Rangers couldn’t be more out of touch. Gob Bless them for what they do, but don’t have the slightest clue of how to ultimately manage and more importantly ADVOCATE for the fire organization who has been working. They are more worried about plugging the holes, however they see fit in order to hide the retention problem. Because that’s how the upper management of the agency sees how to fix things.
What gets lost in all of this is Succession planning. They have been talking about it for years. But even if we were to have a sudden stoppage in the exodus, it would take at least 10 years in order to build back up the qualified line officers that the agency is lacking. They think things are bad now, wait for another couple years
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Great points. Spot on.
I have never seen Vallejo place portal to portal on the table in past years during two open forums. They have done this now twice over the past month. The reasons are obvious.
Now that Vallejo is all in, let’s do our part and keep asking leadership weekly for the when, where, how and who.
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I just hope it’s not some “modified” Portal to Portal. Do the right thing.
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How about if we are looking to increase moral and help make this a better workplace we look at stove piping fire again. There is no reason a DIV chief needs to report to a District Ranger when each Forest has a Chief 1 and 2. We need to have the fire org. chart show that from Chief 1 down to every FF2 there is a clean and unbroken chain of command so when I am getting my Leaders Intent, they are actually my leader. Having people who may have never stepped foot on a fire or are in absolutely no physical condition to do so, supervising people who have spent a career in fire is insane. Having a line officer that has been working virtually for one year and 5 months trying to tell us “We have all sacrificed so much over the last year with all the fires and Covid” from the comfort of their couch is mind numbing. I’m at the very end of my career and I do not believe anything will be in place before I leave but I sure hope they make the federal agencies a place people want to work.
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Thanks for your service Shrek. Wise words indeed.
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Let them know portal to portal should be applied to all federal wildland firefighters, throughout the country.
@latimes
@R5_Fire_News
@POTUS
@VP
@PressSec
@SecVilsack
@SecDebHaaland
@usfs_r5
@SenFeinstein
[/quote]
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More articles coming out. This one from the Washington Post.
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The silence from leadership is deafening! The political moves have been made and the same bureaucracy still exists. Firefighters should not be “led” by land managers. Most land managers don’t believe forestry technicians deserve pay and benefits that would exceed their GS fantastic wages. Wildland Firefighters should be “stove piped” and given extensive delegation of authority to suppress, manage fires on public lands. Pay should be commensurate with our DOD counterparts. That includes PtP and scheduled OT that counts to high three retirement.
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Agree. Keep fighting. Stay vocal everyone. Your efforts matter.
Will Vallejo update their Firefighters today?
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More articles. Spread the word.
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On the eve of a holiday weekend and Father’s Day, anyone know why the Forest Service R5 Asst Director for workforce development would send this out? Vallejo’s version of a feel good message?
“Chiefs,
In response to HRM CDL training.
The AFEO PD is the only PD that does not have “must or required” a CDL, it says “may require”. HRM said since AFEO PD says “may require” a CDL that if a driver gets into an accident they become liable and are not covered by the agency.”
How about you spend some time working on paying our firefighters above minimum wage?
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Here the issue, they have a GS-462 series job - Forestry Technician not a GS-0081 Fire Protection series. If they want more pay, they should of gotten the GS-0081 job instead of the GS-462.
Just saying…
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Wonder if Vallejo is telling Forests to stand down all GS-6 CDL Asst Fire Engine Operators from driving until this is resolved?
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Don’t think I’ve seen a sign hanging from a fast food place with starting pay below 14. Most 15 and a few 16. That’s about the same as a Federal Senior Firefighter.
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Randy, Tony and even Bob don’t care at this point. OPM needs to figure it out with reclassification, that is what is going to change things. Anything else is just a bandade on the wound. Keep enticing PTP it’s not going to change a thing