To the editor: The current investigation into Los Angeles Hearth Division union pay charges was discouraging (“A Times investigation: LAFD union head made $540,000 in a year, with huge overtime payouts,” April 30). No less than we study that high union authorities are lastly placing a cease to a few of it.
Previous to retiring, I used to be an AT&T worker of 25 years. I used to be a member of Communications Employees of America throughout my whole profession and I used to be elected to a union government board place for 3 phrases previous to retiring. With all of the wages and time beyond regulation, my paychecks by no means reached near $100,000 per 12 months. When union officers missed work to cowl union actions, the corporate docked our pay on these days and the CWA reimbursed us precisely the quantity we “misplaced” from not working — no time beyond regulation allowed.
Once I learn how a couple of of our firefighter union officers are incomes over $500,000 in wage, time beyond regulation and union stipends, it angers me. I used to be proud to be a union man throughout my working profession. However listening to these tales, it’s no marvel individuals gripe about unions being corrupt. Freddy Escobar and others are giving unionism a nasty title once more.
Greg Golden, Van Nuys
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To the editor: Your findings on Los Angeles firefighter pay aren’t a shock to anybody who pays consideration to public worker compensation. Clear California has been elevating the pink flag on firefighter time beyond regulation for years. Precise knowledge, as supplied by town and posted on our website, exhibits in 2023 the common complete pay for a “Firefighter III” (the vast majority of these with firefighter of their title) was $174,912, together with common time beyond regulation of $53,851.
Wouldn’t it profit the individuals of Los Angeles to make use of that time beyond regulation pay to spice up staffing and decrease having firefighters working lengthy hours? Wouldn’t having firefighters who aren’t regularly working lengthy hours be one of the best factor for the individuals of L.A.? What if our authorities’s precedence was offering residents with providers, fairly than offering workers with greater pay and advantages?
Todd Maddison, Oceanside
This author is the director of analysis at Clear California.
