Other than lip service, what is actually being done to really help the firefighters on the ground ? Could it be possible that the holdup is how to include upper management in the pay increases ? The danger of long hours and/or paper cuts can be a real concern in a confined office 
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Line officers, agency heads, dept heads have been silent for decades. Now all of sudden when momentum from grassroots, media, and politicians get involved they slowly start to show how much they care. Their leadership to this point has been no existent in this area. Chief Moore was at the helm in R5 for years as employees told him the true issues and he did what amounts to nothing, now he flys the flag. No one will be held accountable for this, but the people “on the ground” know where the real support comes from. Take care.of each other and keep fighting
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When chief Moore was the regional forester he came around to each forest to check in with the boots on the ground, 2017 I think. Our district staff got into a lengthy discussion with him regarding retention issues due to high cost of living. He eventually got frustrated enough that he told us we should go work for cal fire if we wanted more money. This interaction continues to play out in my head as we go through the process to get what is owed to us by law. And what happens if the Tim Hart act were to be signed into law? I don’t think we’ll be better off if we have a chief that has no desire to implement it. How can we as an agency hold him accountable?
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Announcement coming real soon from all fed agencies. Potentially a White House announcement. I think Sen Angus King is going to get his way and I think chances are better than 50/50 this will include most if not all fire GS grades.
Cautiously optimistic.
Keep in mind these Infra funds for pay increases will run out in as little as two years. Once these funds start hitting bank accounts we need to keep fighting for a permanent solution.
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That speaks volumes for the current leadership (so to speak) and their concerns with the little people.
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What do you mean by “upper management”? If you are talking GS9/11 positions they should absolutely be included. They are our most qualified FFs all primary and secondary positions should be included
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My thoughts were District Rangers and up the chain of command.
I do agree with your statement though.
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Seems to be a common theme with people that have had to speak with Randy about a lot of things.
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Supplement payments arriving in 2-4 weeks. Agencies are following the payment requirements outlined in Infra bill.
Back pay to Oct 1 will occur for the pay periods “you worked”. The back pay payment will include what’s owed up to the day it hits your bank account.
Moving forward it’s possible the agencies will pay that differently (another lump or pay period by pay period).
It’s important you know what your payment should be. Find out your base pay, and figure out which payment is lower. $20,000 or 50% increase of base pay. Once that’s known, divide that by 26 pay periods.
For new fire employees, mostly temps, they will not see a back payment except for the pay periods they have worked so far.
People who have worked all pay periods back since Oct 1 will see a substantial payment soon.
If you have switched federal agencies from one fire position to another fire position, that is still being worked out.
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good info Milehigh…so if you are a permanent employee, you are due about 18 payperiods of back supplement pay.
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I asked this before but now that there seems to have been some decisions on this issues, does anyone know or has anything about adjustments to AD pay rates?
I gotta ask again… any word on Wage Grade fire employees?
Knife. Good question. I will try and find out.
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Only the 2022 AD update. Have you seen that?
Yes I have. For my “grade” I got a $1.04 raise. That’s a whopping 2.4% increase in a world of 8+% inflation. That does not bode well for retaining the AD force.
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Seeing how they are treat their full time employees I definitely wouldn’t expect anything else from them.
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Agree. ADs are basically holding up incident management from complete collapse from an overhead perspective.
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Cap, If you really look at the economy and not the politics. The inflation with the price increases is probably closer to 25-35%. Gas, food, rent and other expenses have gone up 50-125 %. I don’t know about you, but I have seen no increase in income to go along with costs of just living.
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Have they figured out which areas qualify yet?