Posted: 10/2/2025 12:16:13 PM EDT
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This is nothing more than a venting post. This was supposed to be the greatest job it the world. You give up a portion of you body and your mental health and the community will take care of you for life. That was he promise. Ive done 20 years as a paramedic . 9 years full time FF/PM for the dept i WAS working for. Rich people decided they didn't need a fire dept, and laid all 26 of us off. 6 weeks pay settlement. No healthcare, the 1700 hours of comp time i had, gone. The time towards pension and healthcare. Gone. They literally stood up on public record said " my house is worth more to insurance let it burn" and voted to close the fire dept. The IAFF did absolutely nothing ot help us. 1 phone call in the year of fighting. And i took me pestering them for months to make 1 facebook post aabout us. Otherwise nothing. Zero support. And its disgusting the brotherhood rats who wok full time close by and then volly at the neighboring depts that are taking over where i once worked. The job and culture the guys that worked in the 80's and 90's and 00's promised us is long gone and dead. If your on the job make sure you watch out for yourself first and foremost. The brotherhood and the public will write you off in a heart beat to save 400 dollars a year. |
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I can't believe the level of stupidity it takes for a city/town to make that sort of decision. I suggest that the 26 of you seek legal counsel to see if there is a way to retrieve some of the financial losses that you have suffered. Best of luck! |
NRA Firearms Instructor
Moved to NH!
Moved to NH!
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I'm sorry man, that is rough. Be a shame if their insurance companies got word of this and cancelled their coverage. |
LARUEMINATI
NRA Endowment Life Member
Originally Posted By Boom_Stick:
""AKs are for villagers you have to tell not to shit in their water supply.""
NRA Endowment Life Member
Originally Posted By Boom_Stick:
""AKs are for villagers you have to tell not to shit in their water supply.""
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It sounds like financially, if costs have tripled in just ten year years, there really wasn't a way to keep it open, especially if it's also covered by larger departments. What you do lose is how fast response time is but so many fires now are full losses anyways due to smoke/water/fire that people are weighing the chance of a fire against the increased costs and if many people are close to a financial breaking point, something has to give. Way to many places/townships/cities/ect use fire and police cuts to scare people into more property taxes but at some point, it WILL backfire. It absolutely sucks but with so many places having massive property tax increases far above the norm, it'll be happening more and more. Even smaller communities have corrupt leadership who just can't keep their fingers out of the tax pie for stupid stuff and then you get into the county and the state on top of that and people will get rid of what they no longer can afford. I hope you can find work close by in your same field OP. The cutting of all your accrued beni's seems to be pretty shady to me to be frank. While ongoing beni's stop, what you have accrued as part of your wages/beni's really should be comped in some way. How many buildings/people were covered by the 5.3 million dollars that it cost? I honestly do see one of our small departments [voluntary] close in the next few years, their response tends to be slow enough that they are almost never on scene first and the reg FD is down almost the same road a few miles away and is staffed. |
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
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Basically what got told me by the union lawyer is you cant sue a government agency that's not in business. And you cant force them.to be in business. So all the perb and contract violations that we have pending court cases for go away. In ny perb takes 12 to 18 months to hear and decide your case union vs employer. So they just closed the doors and thew us away and qe have no legal recourse is what we were told Budget skyrocketed because its an affluent white collar neighborhood of 600 to 1m mansions on golf course. Ten years ago we had a healthy core of volunteers. When it closed there were 5 vollies left. 2 cerified Interior..one unde the age of 50. A daytime driver 10 years ago to a paid staff of 5 on at all times costs money. Thats the way of the world. And the average household in the distinct saves 400 dollars now that we all got laid off and they decided to make multiple fire protection districts and give the area to all the vollie houses around us. You know the ones that pay mop floppers 30 an hour m to f 7 to 7 but are 100 percent vollunteer. |
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Originally Posted By LockOut: Hard lesson learned in legal speak. Our contract only stated sick time and vacation were paid out upon separation. So the district legally was able to tell us to screw. Our contract was that comp time wasn't paid out if not used. I had 800 hours at full pay and 400 hours at half pay accrued when I retired. My pension input from the company was stopped at 62 [for every still under the pension plan, they went to a 401K maybe 15 years ago for new employees] so even if I stayed, I accrued nothing more. It was worth 30K a year that went into it and we could also do the 401k but at a lower kick in by the company that wasn't increased to the regular amount when the pension pay in stopped. The 401K only employees also lost the health care beni's the pension people got until 65 and then a kick into cover additional after 65. So most 401K employees will need to work to 65 at a minimum for medicare unless they are cranking an extra 20K + yearly into health insurance coverage. There is a reason I retired when I did. I went less then a week before my 62nd birthday because we have to retire on the first of the month. |
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
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I'm not a firefighter, but I was also laid off in the last couple of weeks. No explanation, no warning, just "we're realigning the territories, and yours no longer exists. Good luck!" I got a small severance package, but it was completely out of left field and I had no idea it was coming. I'm interviewing with a few different orgs, and talking to the hiring managers of a couple more. I'll land on my feet, but it sucks to be back on the streets. The hiring process is so very different than it used to be. Even the way resumes and LinkedIn profiles need to be written. You have to hide your age if you're past your 30s. Good luck with everything, op. The best way to move forward is to move forward. Process through the anger and betrayal, but then get properly focused on the process of finding your next opportunity. |
"Now none of the frightened soldiers moved, for they saw that cowardice and valor purchased equal plots in the sniper's killing field."
"Not interested in a lecture by either side”
- isaidme
"Not interested in a lecture by either side”
- isaidme
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Population 53. The town is mostly businesses. Join the Victor fire department to continue servicing Fishers. General Mills is closing three plants in Missouri. |
Keep your powder dry, and watch your back trail.
I'm watching my back trail.
I'm watching my back trail.
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That sucks, sorry to hear you got the shaft. Try to join another agency where your time is portable and pensionable in the NY State system (Keeping your current tier is the key). I believe police & fire are in the same plan. Maybe look for a paramedic job working for the state at a Syracuse hospital, get your time in and punch out. Unions up North are all self service, not serving the members. |
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yeah, i thought comp time was governed differently. unless you guys agreed to something in your contract? FLSA says we can have 480 max hours of comp time banked but our contract limits us to 250 hrs max. we're a small department of just over 30, i think four people have anything close to 100 hrs banked. everyone else have a day or less of CT. i have been maxed at 250 hrs for years. i earned it all before i got promoted. they get angry whenever i get any overtime because i can't take it in my comp bank. it's near impossible to use my comp time anyway. we're so shorthanded. edit - flsa not fsla. |
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Originally Posted By dsquared_5: 1700 hours of comp time is a big deal. Comp time is considered Pay by DOL. They owe you that. Sick time is considered an insurance policy for the employer. May also depend on the jurisdiction. As a federal agent, all of my sick leave counted towards my pension, but wasn’t paid out in a lump sum check like my annual leave was after I retired. several years ago they didn’t even do that for sick leave but when people started taking three days off a week, the last three years on the job because they wouldn’t get paid for it they came around and compensated us for that. |
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Sorry to hear that brother. We had something like that not long ago in Okeechobee County Fl.. There was one city fire station in the town, with a few guys per shift and they were pretty much only fire response. It was decided that it was no longer needed and the county would take over, in which the county only had 4 rescue trucks in 2 stations for the entire county. Some of those city guys were at retirement and all of the sudden all that time meant nothing. They were not offered a job at the county but they "could apply" for a job there if they wanted to. I couldn't imagine the devastation, just like you are feeling and your brothers. I worked at a small city dept. for a few years, 1 paid man per shift with a chief and lt. that worked Monday -Friday 8-5 but would respond off duty in volunteer status, (screwy contract/laws). So, we had only 3 paid guys total for A,B and C shift. The dept. had volunteers and most of those guys worked for the sugar mills or another business. They were some great guys, those volunteers. Being we were in a large county and the county was looking to absorb the smaller depts. but was delayed for over a decade because of politics in the small city. I left and went elsewhere, just in case it didn't work out. There was no loyalty by city management towards the fire or police dept.. You give up a lot to do your job-health, longevity and your mind to somewhere you are not appreciated. I know money is not a factor in small departments, as they don't have money to pay much. I left making $500 more gross my 3rd year than when I originally started. I feel the union, IAFF, is a waste of money and I don't know why anyone or dept. joins it. In Florida, we are a right to work state and the union really does nothing for us other than take our money. The local union, that the workers put in funds for, have done more for the community and for the men and women on the line. We have given money and time/supplies/construction to residents, supplied equipment when necessary,etc.. The IAFF could care less,especially if you are a small dept. who contributes little. There is nothing in it for them, sadly. I don't know where you are located but I know in Florida, departments are constantly hiring and we can use some experienced fire/medics. You are welcome here. |
Be the change you want in this world.
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I read the article and it seems like it left out a lot so I can't really speak to the department specifically. 26 personnel and a 5.3 million budget seems really high. Fire only or EMS transport and fire? I assume one station? Is the retirement based solely on the department vs a state or county type system? In Texas we have TCDRS for counties and TMRS for municipalities and it moves with you from department to department but is protected at the state level. On the budget side, we have 170 line personnel plus admin chiefs / staff and 7 stations. We run fire (all ALS units) and EMS transport (front line manned is 6 engines, 2 tower ladders, 1 stick ladder, ARFF truck, 6 ambulances and a peak ambulance, safety officer, 2 bat chiefs). Our budget is around 25mil. We replace front line ambulances every 3 years, engines 10 years and ladders 15 so money gets spent. |
| I would call a lawyer. If they were offering 26 employees a pension, they must have had an accrued pension liability. It may have been funded. If that is the case, they are looking for a financial windfall by cancelling your pension and taking the funding (cash), that supported the liability. |
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I don't believe, if you have vested pension financial beni's accrued, a company or even a govt concern can just go ''tough shit'' and cancel any pension monies vested. If they could, it would be common practice with EVERY company and smaller govt entity. At the least, you are owed the monetary value of the pension amount accrued at time of termination for pretty much any reason. All those terminated and who lost vested pension monies should get together and speak with a lawyer who specializes in this kind of law. |
Liberals are a curious mix of communism and fascism, they want to destroy you but want to use your own money to do it.
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
I'm getting down to the last box, the others have all been destroyed...
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Originally Posted By LockOut: Hard lesson learned in legal speak. Our contract only stated sick time and vacation were paid out upon separation. So the district legally was able to tell us to screw. That doesn’t make much sense. Comp time is time off later in lieu of wages for WORK already performed. You would think the state labor or federal labor agencies would be on them to make you whole forbtime already worked. Obviously I am no labor lawyer. I am in Police and Fire retirement. I just found out that Police and Fire don’t get any COLAs to retirement pension checks until 63 years of age iirc. And you only get a small percentage of the official inflation rate. Retire from PEF and you get your COLA adjustments in just a few years after you leave. |
The only hyphenated names I like are cartridge names......30-06, 30-40, 38-55 etc.
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<—- Former BBFD firefighter. One district to your west. Back in 1995-2000 Sorry to hear about the job loss. Go apply in Crapchester? Who’s taking over your district? BBFD and Victor? |
What is a democrat? Someone who wants everything you have, except for your job.
Politicians should wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers so we could see their corporate sponsors.
Politicians should wear uniforms like NASCAR drivers so we could see their corporate sponsors.