If a firefighter from the OC Fire Authority retires at age 50 at the current average firefighter total compensation of $175,000 annually, then that firefighter will earn roughly $4.2 million in total compensation in his remaining 24 years (based on average life expectancy) without one more day of work.
How many of you have a $4.2 million retirement plan?
“…the OC Fire Authority budget lists firefighter compensation at $175,000 a year including overtime and benefits…thanks to the overtime system, rigged to boost employee pay rather than protect the public till, many California firefighters earn more than $200,000 a year in pay alone. One firefighter amassed so much overtime his annual pay was nearly $300,000 a year.” ~Steven Greenhut, author of PLUNDER!
“Overtime costs at the Orange County Fire Authority hit $27.9 million last year, a 55 percent increase since 2003, an Orange County Register analysis of payroll records has found…Interviews and records show that a key factor behind the growth of overtime is the enhancement of pension benefits granted to firefighters in 2001. The pension benefits have boosted the cost of each firefighter dramatically, simultaneously discouraging the agency from new hires and encouraging more early retirements.” ~OC Register
That last sentence is important to understand. When new hires are “discouraged” and “early retirements” are encouraged, that means less firefighters actually showing up for work. In other words, you and I must live our lives with fewer firemen on the job which increases the risks to our safety, and all because the city or state has only enough money to continue paying the generous retirement benefits to its retired firefighters.
Since the municipalities can’t afford to hire new firefighters, all they can do is give existing firefighters more overtime to cover the vacancies. A firefighter would be crazy to work one day more than his 50th year because it’s like working for free. So on the first day of his 50th year, a new vacancy opens up and it’s filled with more overtime from the remaining firefighters.
Guess what happens next…
Firefighter’s Labor Unions will then point out that there is a decline in public safety due to a lack of firemen. This will raise the public’s concern and they will support the city and state in hiring more firefighters. The money to pay those new firefighters can only come from two sources; either your local government cuts other government services or they raise your taxes.
The fact that the Labor Unions and the Firefighters are the cause of the very shortage they are complaining about will never be mentioned.
See how this scam works? The city will have to stop repairing roads or maintaining public parks so the Labor Unions can get more firefighters on the payroll, who will of course retire early and join the other retired firefighters who are draining your local government’s funds for the next 30 years of their natural life. And since they were making so much money in overtime due to all those who retired before them, they will receive those inflated amounts during retirement, thus repeating the cycle forever. It’s a beautiful scam.
Alternatively, your city, county or state will have to raise your taxes if they don’t want to cut other services which is more likely because the Labor Unions that repair the roads and the Labor Unions that maintain the parks will not want to take any cuts either, just like the Labor Union that fights the fires.
Labor Unions are raping the taxpayer and spinning this perpetual pillaging cycle off into future generations with no end in sight.
Categories: Gov't Workers & Unions
Angrywoodchuck's Blog 
Speaking of retirement plans, I wrote a post at my blog, “Constitutionalism for the American Citizen,” regarding the Post Office. The reason it is posting net losses? Because it is socking away billions for retiree health benefits!