Do firefighters deserve a raise?

[allycatz]

Volunteers are just that..volunteers. They do it because the love it. They get paid petrol money they do not need to get paid for the job they want to do. My girlfriend is a volunteer firefighter and not once has she ever complained about not getting paid!

I just dont see why we have volunteer firefighters....there is no need for people to have to do it for free though

[Pedrostt500]

Yes they deserve a pay rise, dealing with bad motor vechicle accidents would not be plesant, ie cutting some kid out of a car wreck.

[sil3nt]

I just dont see why we have volunteer firefighters....there is no need for people to have to do it for free though

We have volunteers because there is not enough call outs to justify having full time staff employed in the small towns. Sometimes they get a call out a couple of times a day other times it could be two weeks between a call out. If people are happily doing it for free i fail to see the problem! If you want to get paid to do it then apply as a career firefighter or don't join the volunteers!

[firefighter]

I was just listening to the voices in my head again. Is it just me, or do a lot of the better paid jobs tend to be Government paid?

e,g. Police, Fire fighters, public sector doctors, armed forces, public sector nurses, zillions of management and consultants, etc.

You put doctor in with armed forces? Hardly a comparable pay scale.

And no. Armed forces are NOT better paid.

I deserve a payrise. I haven't had one for three years. But then, I don't work for the government.

You both have completely un-educated opinions of gobbernment employ.

I've been in two of the armed services, neither has had any great payrises you for some reason think has happened.

Don't confuse these departments with councellors and politicians.

Really........don't.

[firefighter]

I just dont see why we have volunteer firefighters....there is no need for people to have to do it for free though

Because they are not only needed, they really really enjoy it, and take it pretty seriously.

It would cost a fortune to replace them with permanent staff.

Why take that away from them, and from the people who need them?

I'm sure you'd want a truck to your house within 8 minutes, if not sooner......

[sil3nt]

Cost of living is a lot less while in the Armed Forces as well.

I have a mate in an internship as a government legal advisor and if he makes it through he starts on $80K :dry:

[hospitalfood]

Volunteers are just that..volunteers. They do it because the love it. They get paid petrol money they do not need to get paid for the job they want to do. My girlfriend is a volunteer firefighter and not once has she ever complained about not getting paid!

mate, I'm a dedicated member of the local volunteer fire party and i don't love it at all. some of us do it because we live in small rural towns and if we don't local property is a lot worse off. I'm not asking to be paid for it but don't think I do it for love, it is fucking hard to love going to a car crash or fire at three in the morning. we do it because it has to be done. my favorite call-outs are false alarms because at least they are over quickly.

as far as full time firemen getting more money, HELL YEAH ! all NZ manual workers should get more money.

[allycatz]

Because they are not only needed, they really really enjoy it, and take it pretty seriously.

It would cost a fortune to replace them with permanent staff.

Why take that away from them, and from the people who need them?

I'm sure you'd want a truck to your house within 8 minutes, if not sooner......

Sorry, dont get me wrong, im not saying they shouldnt be there, i was meaning I dont see why a job so important should be done for free. I realise its because people want to, just like volly ambulance but when we have some of the exhorbitant politician perks going on, why should people be expected to do it for free

[firefighter]

Cost of living is a lot less while in the Armed Forces as well.

I have a mate in an internship as a government legal advisor and if he makes it through he starts on $80K :dry:

If your happy to spend all your time ON BASE. Wow what a life..........

You get free gym, pool, and a cheap 6x8 room-smaller than a cell, the single bed fills 90% of the room. That's all you have before you compare it to a flat, that's it. A room.

You don't use these facilities all that much to justify it.

99% of the time the medical you use is caused by the job and covered by ACC, and the dental is a yearly checkup where they don't do anything unless you really really need it.

When was the last time you used all these facilities?

Having them free make your life alot cheaper?

Answer-No.

[firefighter]

Sorry, dont get me wrong, im not saying they shouldnt be there, i was meaning I dont see why a job so important should be done for free. I realise its because people want to, just like volly ambulance but when we have some of the exhorbitant politician perks going on, why should people be expected to do it for free

I hear you, but until the vollys stop doing it, they will always be there.

(which is cool with me/ex volly myself/except I loved it)

[Timber020]

Give me a break, I have family and friends who are firefighters. They do SFA at least 80% of the time. They watch TV, sleep, game, surf the net, take the fire appliance out to look at women or pick up lunch, they keep second jobs (I know one that has built his own house in less than a year) and their job isnt even that dangerous statistically. They loose one guy on the job in 25 years, in my industry we loose a guy every 25 months, and theres less of us.

Firefighters have a great romantic attraction for the public, but they actually do very little most of the time and get paid well for it.

Vollys do more for less and dont whine about it all the time. Send more funds there way.

[IdunBrokdItAgin]

I think the question should be: Do the fire fighters deserve a pay rise in line with inflation - answer yes.
Do the fire figthers deserve a pay rise above inflation - answer no.
Will the fire fighters get a pay rise in line with inflation - expecting a no.
Will this be rectified in future years (outside of a recession) - probably.

Bit of quick economic thinking would say that public service pay rises will not be in line with inflation but at a crunch point in future years a catch up to inflation will take place (due to strikes or such like).

Personaly I think that the original question is as biased as you can get - "Should firefighters get a pay rise?" (hell yeah!) "Do I have to pay for it with higher taxes?" (hell no!).

Get a grip. As we all know: Emergency services are the heroes (you only truly realise this when you need them) that is a certainty. That they aren't always properly renumerated for their sacrifices is also (unfortunately) a certainty.

[Dave Lobster]

You both have completely un-educated opinions of gobbernment employ.

I've been in two of the armed services, neither has had any great payrises you for some reason think has happened.

Don't confuse these departments with councellors and politicians.

Really........don't.

No, I don't.

I've spent many years in the armed services myself. After spending most of the nineties in the Balkans, I left and got a proper job.

I can't think of many jobs where the employees are forced to stay. Something I learned early on in the army - if you don't like it, leave. (or if you're a fireman, strike.. and the 18 year old lads in the army will do your job for you - for half the cash)

[ynot slow]

I know a few vollunteer f/f in small towns,most are self employed.My old boss was chief and had been in force as volunteer for years,at the time he had 2 or 3 guys on the brigade,these guys were part of the rural community,towns like Okaiawa,Kaponga,Opunake,all at least 20 mins from main stations of Stratford and Hawera.

I know of at least 4 guys at Hawera who are self employed,and drop work if required,as an idea if the alarm at Kiwi dairies (Fontera)went they sent 2 trucks,reason was 2 roads to factory,if one road closed for any reason the truck could get through,assertain the damage and call for backup.

Also worked with a guy who was volunteer,he had joined almost as soon as he started work,a few times was called out,used to piss a dept manager if he was called out,mostly because the manager had not allowed his workers allowance for breakdowns,customers not on time,faulty product etc,let alone a fire call out.Happened one day a call out,and the guys were behind by a half day,the manager wasn't happy to get a call saying one guy was required to fight a fire.The rest of the team said go,we'll carry on,they finished about 8.00pm.We all asked the manager what if it was your home,enough said we told him.

[taff1954]

Have to say yes, have done heaps of training over the years, hot-fire, confined space rescue and so on (petro-chem industry), and it's bloody hard work. I've also been first on-scene of a fatal car crash and an industrial fatal. Think of how much training these guys have to do to stay on top of the job. One of the main reasons we don't see too many get killed on the job is all the training they do. It's not just about hourly rates - you've got to be pretty dedicated to do some of the shit these guys have to deal with.