Hug a fire fighter today....
Is it just me or does everyone think our fire fighters are very precious and deserve community support?
A busload of Sunshine Coast firies are heading for Brisbane this morning to march for better pay and conditions.
I’ve got a couple of really good friends who are firies – can’t name them obviously, because they might get sacked and nobody wants that!! But the bottom line is firies are not really paid that well.
The hourly rate is not that different to a person working behind the counter in a shop. Nothing wrong with shop work, but it’s clearly not as specialised, stressful or dangerous as fire fighting.
Fire fighter wages were set back in 1994. Acknowledging the job has changed significantly since that time, two years ago the Queensland Government agreed to appoint independent consultants to evaluate the work performed by fire fighters.
Probably much to the surprise of the government, the review found the job was worth up to 47% more in 2008 than in 1994.
On the back of that finding the firies have asked for a 30 per cent pay rise over two years, but the government isn’t coming to the party.
Anyway – we’re all safe on the coast today, all fire stations remain fully staffed – only staff with time off are taking part in the protest.
A busload of Sunshine Coast firies are heading for Brisbane this morning to march for better pay and conditions.
I’ve got a couple of really good friends who are firies – can’t name them obviously, because they might get sacked and nobody wants that!! But the bottom line is firies are not really paid that well.
The hourly rate is not that different to a person working behind the counter in a shop. Nothing wrong with shop work, but it’s clearly not as specialised, stressful or dangerous as fire fighting.
Fire fighter wages were set back in 1994. Acknowledging the job has changed significantly since that time, two years ago the Queensland Government agreed to appoint independent consultants to evaluate the work performed by fire fighters.
Probably much to the surprise of the government, the review found the job was worth up to 47% more in 2008 than in 1994.
On the back of that finding the firies have asked for a 30 per cent pay rise over two years, but the government isn’t coming to the party.
Anyway – we’re all safe on the coast today, all fire stations remain fully staffed – only staff with time off are taking part in the protest.
posted by Caroline Hutchinson at 9:45 AM
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