Wsi??

[jschmid]

Sent my resume to WSI and wondering if anyone works for them if they can tell me how they are to work for?

Also I see the contractor jobs are in Iraq, what are the living and work situations like?

I have my DOD IFSAC FFI,FF2,ARFF,HAZMAT OPS AND EMT-B,NATIONAL REG.
PLUS A HANDFULL OF WILDLAND CERTS will they even look at me as an option?

[BFDNJFF]

this thread is mostly all about the WSI job

CLICK HERE FOR THE INFO ON IRAQ THREAD (http://forums.firehouse.com/showthread.php?t=70336)

[jschmid]

collected some info on that thread thanks!

Still wondering if there are any guys over there now working for WSI I could talk with through email??

[SwiftFire]

collected some info on that thread thanks!

Still wondering if there are any guys over there now working for WSI I could talk with through email??

About half of the people in the above thread are over there or were there at some point. 99.5% of them will be glad to answer questions or already have, and most are happy to email back and forth with you also.

[garypoe4454]

Fired fireman sues defense contractor
Man says he was assaulted before he was dismissed
By Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, January 17, 2006 11:22 PM EST
E-mail this story | Print this page

Gary Lovett, a former D.C. firefighter, claims he was fired from his contracting job after being attacked by his supervisor in Iraq. Jay Westcott/Examiner
When the Sept. 11 attacks came, D.C. firefighter Gary Lovett says he "got Pearl Harbor syndrome." He left the District after a 23-year career and shipped off, first to Saudi Arabia, then to Afghanistan and then to Iraq, to "do my thing for God and country."

But he says his willingness to take up the fireman's burden met sloth and heathen folly - and his hopes were brought to naught - when his boss assaulted him and then had him fired.

Last week, Lovett, 51, of Rockville, filed a six-figure breach-of-contract suit in D.C. Superior Court against the boss and Wackenhut Services Inc., the defense contractor that initially had hired him.


The hard-talking, hard-living Lovett says he was doing good work for the Marines in Fallujah. But he says that his supervisor - who "wasn't cut out for the job" and was "under enormous undue pressure" - "wigged out" in separate confrontations over training and procedure.

In the second confrontation, Lovett claims the boss grabbed him by the collar and slammed him into a trailer.



"Now I'm not saying I'm the most efficient manager in the world. I've got foibles - ask my wife. But [Wackenhut officials] had their kangaroo court and they found that I was guilty," Lovett said.

Lovett says he's been unable to find work since his firing last March.

His lawyer, Adele L. Abrams, said the suit should serve as a whiff of grapeshot for scheming defense contractors.



"These contractors are out there exploiting the people they bring over â€- who put themselves on the line," Abrams said.

Wackenhut CEO James L. Long called Lovett's claims "ridiculous."

"I have 550 people over there and you're welcome to call all of them and you'll get 550 people telling you that it's the most absurd thing they've ever heard," he

said.

SEEKING RETRIBUTION

- The suit seeks $10,000 in "actual" damages - back wages, bonuses and the contents of a foot locker allegedly kept by the company.

- It seeks an additional $300,000 in punitive damages.

- Wackenhut's Iraq contract is worth about $80 million

[garypoe4454]

Rick Tye is a good man who is trying to do a huge thing.
I would fight Hells fire for him any time any where
I feal luck to have worked with him and hate to have to go to court over money

[showboshe]

Rick Tye is a good man who is trying to do a huge thing.
I would fight Hells fire for him any time any where
I feal luck to have worked with him and hate to have to go to court over money


So then don't go to court, your the one driving the ship.........right?
Suck it up and go get a job, if you can!

[garypoe4454]

To do the next right thing in life every time is the hardest thing a person can do.
To have to decide to stand up for what one believes is right is harder still.
There are many people that have been treated poorly, harassed, discharged or forced to quit. That is wrong. Some time we must take the hard road to allow injustice to continue is cowardly.
Where would we be if it were not for the suffer jets in the 1900’s the Civil rights movement of the 1960’s.
One can only try to be a voice in the wilderness crying out telling of the injustices.
This is why I must keep on with this.
With luck things will change and all people will be treated with the compassion that is due them.
Members will not be shunned for being fat people will not be forced into forced runs and then placed on charges because they can not keep up with the others.
That OSHA laws will be followed
That the rules will be followed by management
If for the short run the Corporation is hurt so be it but the Corporation will recover from it and be a better place to work.

[factsaboutiraq]

Oh Gary Please!!!
Now you are comparing yourself to the suffrage movement the civil rights movement?
I guess we should start refering to you as Malcom Molley Brown X.

OSHA doesn't apply in Iraq and you should know that

I think you are getting way ahead of yourself on the corporation being hurt. You first have to prove that what you say happened...happened. Based on the number of friends you have from here...one... tell Chris we all said hi, and the fact that he wasn't there at B3 with you, I'd say you chances are pretty slim.

As for the rest of it, Gary, people who have been discharged are going to do what? Are they going to be honest with themselves about why, or are they going to try and save face and say the corporation mistreated them or wrongfully discharged them? You've been around a looong time Gary. Which will they do? Do you honesty believe that everyone else over here would stand around if we were being mistreated. Maybe you have already forgotten what Firefighters are like. They don't tend to do that Gary and you should know that too.

Because a few out of hundreds have something to complain about doesn't make it so. That is what some Americans do when the are fired or don't get the class they want or get their hand spanked for being silly, the run crying to a lawyer, or their mother/girlfriend/friends to try and gather support for their cause. That is why you have come on this forum Gary...to try and get someone else to take your part. Any luck with that so far? Wonder why? Because we all know about you and your kind Gary.
Be a man Gary, take your lumps like the rest of us and try to learn what to do and what not to do next time.

By the way, nice try with the ARFF kid statement, but as usual you are wrong

[showboshe]

To do the next right thing in life every time is the hardest thing a person can do.
To have to decide to stand up for what one believes is right is harder still.
There are many people that have been treated poorly, harassed, discharged or forced to quit. That is wrong. Some time we must take the hard road to allow injustice to continue is cowardly.
Where would we be if it were not for the suffer jets in the 1900’s the Civil rights movement of the 1960’s.
One can only try to be a voice in the wilderness crying out telling of the injustices.
This is why I must keep on with this.
With luck things will change and all people will be treated with the compassion that is due them.
Members will not be shunned for being fat people will not be forced into forced runs and then placed on charges because they can not keep up with the others.
That OSHA laws will be followed
That the rules will be followed by management
If for the short run the Corporation is hurt so be it but the Corporation will recover from it and be a better place to work.


This is contract work...I encourage you to review your contract. Especially the part that says...The company/contrator can release the employee/contractee and anytime without reason.

[turnout733]

If all safety rules were to be followed, there would be no one in the warzone, which is kind of, "unsafe".

Its a warzone. I've worked as a contractor in the Middle East. Its true, they all cut corners, break rules, ignore regulations, walk over laws, many times with the military commanders looking on and saying nothing. Do you know why? Those commanders retire and make over six figures working for the contractor they supervised when they were a soldier. The bulk of the managers at these companies are retired Majors and above. Cheney and Bush senior set that standard, well, Cheney did the reverse also.

Like it or not, and I don't like it, thats the way it is. If you want to make a boatload of money, maybe get a few more certs and collect some been there done that t-shirts, overseas contracting is it. If you expect anything else, stay at home.

[LtSt51CShift]

I am currently in Q-West, the conditions are pretty good here. Our station is an old Iraq station but our sleeping quarters where I stay are nice. The base is a pretty slow base over all. 1 piece of advice I can give you coming over here is have an open mind. You are stepping into a situation where there are hundreds of firefighters from all over here for mainly the money. There is alot to get out of being her besides the money it is up to you. Quote: WSI is not a fire department it is a business. I did not say that someone said it to me, so if you remember that you will do ok here. Depending on your background you need to forget alot of what you have been taught. Things are done just a hair bit different over here. Young kids who would not be off the tailboard back home are in charge over here. These are just my thoughts it is not bad here it just takes some getting used to.

[1firemangreg]

I just found this thread and found the comments by garypoe quit interesting. I worked with him at B-3 and he fails to tell the hole story (of course). Gary, you where a horrible leader, and none of the firefighters in your charge had any faith in you. We watched you make fools of us with the, Marines and everyone at B-3 you came in contact with. I as in all of the firefighters that were there when you left were glad to see you leave. It was a much better place after you left, even though it took a new MEF coming in to fix the damage you did while you were there. You deserve nothing from WSI. You already got what you deserved.

[Visionary911]

To do the next right thing in life every time is the hardest thing a person can do.
To have to decide to stand up for what one believes is right is harder still.
There are many people that have been treated poorly, harassed, discharged or forced to quit. That is wrong. Some time we must take the hard road to allow injustice to continue is cowardly.
Where would we be if it were not for the suffer jets in the 1900’s the Civil rights movement of the 1960’s.
One can only try to be a voice in the wilderness crying out telling of the injustices.
This is why I must keep on with this.
With luck things will change and all people will be treated with the compassion that is due them.
Members will not be shunned for being fat people will not be forced into forced runs and then placed on charges because they can not keep up with the others.
That OSHA laws will be followed
That the rules will be followed by management
If for the short run the Corporation is hurt so be it but the Corporation will recover from it and be a better place to work.


GaryPoe,

You know better than this. Basically with your comments posted here your name just went on a don't hire list and will be spread around the contract world and your only choices will be positions that nobody else will want.

Your comments on this page are defensive, which means you are unsure of your actions. If you were right and people believed you there would be no reason to post the comments about your case, then try to justify them.

[garypoe4454]

As we have seen over the past few years, more and more people are WINNING their Law Suits with WSI.
I can not say (by law) any thing about my case as with most suits the deals are made to keep litigants from divulging any information with regards to “out of court” settlements.
All I can say is if you were wronged stand up and move forward with what you believe is right.
Please read the article in last weeks Firehouse and a former WSI employee winning his suit against WSI