N.O. Recruit Annual Pay Raise

[FIREFLY2420]

I just have to comment on this subject. I was absolutly blown away when I read how much a rookie firefighter makes in N.O. They were getting hired in at $5.10 an hour. WTF? They look to be getting a pretty good pay raise, but its still only $8.31 an hour. WTF? How is it that this City/State can get away with that? What is the Union doing for these guys? If the rookie firefighters are making pennies, what is the veteran firefighters making? I'm sure they are not making much more. COME ON PEOPLE!! These guys are making less than a burger flipper at the local McDonalds. No wonder all the police and firefighters left after Katrina.

[GFDLT1]

I agree they need to get paid a lot more, but does anyone know what the cost of living in or around N.O. is? I was wondering what kind of standard of living these guys would have down there for that. The rest of that article sucks for the brothers there as well. Now after this pay raise, the FNG's will be making more then some of the guys already on line. How wrong is that?

KTF-EGH

[BFDNJFF]

We need to know the what they work 24's 48's 72's ? are they paid for a full 24 hours? and is it a right to work state?

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

24/48 -56 hour week.

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

I posted this in the Jackson thread

A little good news in New Orleans

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Firefighters, EMS workers to get raises

In an unexpected move Thursday, the New Orleans City Council's Budget Committee endorsed a 10 percent pay raise for veteran firefighters and for all EMS workers, and ordered the city's Civil Service Commission to study the idea of raising pay for all city workers up to the southern average.

The committee also directed the city's Planning Commission to hire 3 to 4 new planners, saying the city has enough money to pay for the additional staffers.

In addition, the budget committee endorsed pay raises for police officers and rookie firefighters as recommended by Mayor Ray Nagin. All of the recommendations will go before the full City Council Friday, but with four council members voting in committee to approve them, the measure appears certain to pass. Council members Arnie Fielkow, Cynthia Willard-Lewis, Stacy Head and Cynthia Hedge-Morrell approved the measures.

On Wednesday, Civil Service commissioners approved the 10 percent police pay raise submitted by the Nagin administration, but reduced the size of the salary increase for fire recruits recommended by the mayor. The commission made the adjustment because the proposed $5,300 increase would have pushed the starting hourly wage for a Fire Department trainee higher than what a first-year firefighter earns.

Instead, the plan sent on to the council recommended boosting a recruit's salary by $3,977, which would increase a rookie's annual pay from $15,919, or $5.10 an hour, to $19,896, or $8.31 an hour.

[BFDNJFF]

24/48 -56 hour week.

I thaught the 21 g I made when i lived in SC was bad !

[GFDLT1]

Even though they still don't make jack sh$t, I at least commend the City Council for giving the vetern FF's a raise. I am glad to see that they at least recognized that it would have been screwed up for the rookies to make more than guys on line, something that that MUTT of a Mayor didn't care to see.

[Dickey]

Cost of living must really be low there.
I make more an hour here part time as they do full time.

When I was in Florida the last time, I stopped by an Orlando FD station. The shift commander happened to be there at the same time. We chatted a bit and he was going to go to HQ and get me an application on the spot. Apparently according to him, they love WI people because of our work ethic. ( )

That was 3 years ago now but their starting wage at the time was only $8.15/hr
from what he told me. Just doesn't seem right does it?

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

Ah yes Wisconsin...Home to the "Drunkest City in America"..Hell, Chicago wasnt even in the top 5. (6)

[Jasper 45]

Ah yes Wisconsin...Home to the "Drunkest City in America"..Hell, Chicago wasnt even in the top 5. (6)

Well then, let's not forget that Chicago did make it in the top 5 of the fattest cities.


I'm still wondering what this quote has to do with the topic.

[gunnyv]

Cost of living in the South

On one of my active duty stints, one of the guys I was with was a Batt Chief from Fulton County. While discussing wages, he was a little upset that I made $5K more as a FF than he did the previous year as a BC. Now that I'm a FF/Medic, it's probably $10K.

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

Jasper, I was joking around with Dickey due to his post regarding how Florida loves Wisconsin people. Sorry to offend you. It was meant as fun. But you know how we FIBS are...

[Jasper 45]

No worries Mikey, I was put off because I had spilled my beer all over my keyboard.

[DonSmithnotTMD]

They're also not hiring. Paramedics and cops are needed, but the FD is OK.

[Dave1983]

Welcome to the south. Wages here in general are lower then other parts of the country. Then again, so is the cost of living, so it sort of balences out. Even so, that $8 an hour is quite low, at least compared to my area.

To give you a better idea of what pay is like down here in Dixie, I just recieved an e-mail from my local with all the pay scales for my county (were doing a new contract). Lowest starting FF/EMT pay is $32,953.00. The highest topped out FF/EMT pay is $53,032.00 (average is 49,364.00). The highest overall salery is for a topped out LT/Medic at $71,056.00.

Not sure exactly how this compares to other areas of the country, but Ive always been told we are low down here.