The President signed an Executive Order yesterday requiring Federal contractors to pay a $15 minimum wage to hundreds of thousands of workers who are on Federal contracts.
From a statement issued by the White House:
These workers are critical to the functioning of the Federal government: from cleaning professionals and maintenance workers who ensure Federal employees have safe and clean places to work, to nursing assistants who care for the nation’s veterans, to cafeteria and other food service workers who ensure military members have healthy and nutritious food to eat, to laborers who build and repair Federal infrastructure.
“I believe no one should work full-time and still live in poverty,” President Joe Biden said in a Twitter post announcing the move.
Raising the minimum wage to $15 for all workers in the United States is long past overdue. The last time it was changed was 13 years ago when it increased from $5.15 per hour to the current rate of $7.25 per hour.
The cleaning professionals and cafeteria workers mentioned in the statement from the White House as examples of Federal contractors who will be covered by the new minimum wage need this new policy. It is extremely difficult to support a family while making less. If they receive a bump in pay when the policy goes into effect January 30, 2022, that’s great for them. And the pay will be adjusted annually based on the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers.
But let us consider who will not be receiving the minimum pay of $15 an hour — Federal wildland firefighters, roughly 15,000 employees who work under the ridiculous titles of Forestry or Range Technician. Most of them start at the GS-3 level which this year is $13.45 an hour. Many of them will remain a GS-3 for years. When they become a highly skilled firefighter a few years later they might be promoted to a GS-4 making $15.20 an hour, which is less than the starting pay at some McDonald’s outlets.
The only way these professional firefighters can even begin to support a family is to work 1,000 hours of overtime each year. This is a physically and emotionally demanding job. Shifts on a going fire are typically 14 to 16 hours leaving only 8 to 10 hours each day when they are off the clock, which is not enough time to rest, recuperate, and take care of personal needs.
Federal wildland firefighters travel across the country going state to state wherever the fires are. When the largest blazes need 5,000 personnel, they may be staffed with individuals from nearly every U.S. state. Being away from home and family for extended periods of time every year puts stresses on the firefighters and their households.
Our opinion
Federal wildland firefighters need to be paid at least as much as cafeteria workers. Men and women defending our country by suppressing fires are grossly underpaid and deserve a large boost in salary. This could slow down the hordes that are quitting to seek a living wage, moving to city, state, and private organizations. Their pay needs to be competitive and commensurate with wages that could be earned doing the same job with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) and Pacific Gas and Electric.
Last week the McDonalds in Sisters, Oregon was seeking new employees, offering starting pay of $15.50 to $18.25 and a hiring bonus of $1,000.
These extraordinary employees also need to be reclassified correctly as actual Firefighters, not forestry technicians.
Some efforts are underway, such as the request by nine U.S. Senators for the Government Accountability Office to conduct an assessment of hiring and retention of Federal wildland firefighters at the five Federal agencies responsible for wildland fire.
Tomorrow, April 29 at 1 p.m. EDT, the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands, led by Chair Joe Neguse (D-Colo.), will host an oversight hearing titled Wildfire in a Warming World: Opportunities to Improve Community Collaboration, Climate Resilience, and Workforce Capacity. Riva Duncan, now retired from the Fire Staff Officer position on the Umpqua National Forest in Oregon, is scheduled to testify. This could be interesting. You can watch it live, or replay it later.
The video below is the daily White House Press Briefing from April 27, 2021. The first item covered by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki is the Executive Order about the new minimum wage for contractors.
Being retired for 16+ years, I’m a long way from this battle now.
I can say from looking back, I always loved my job. Be it Engines, Helitack, or Hotshots.
There was a time when CDF (Cal Fire) Firefighters envied the FS pay and bennies. That went away when some very savvy CDF individuals strengthened their Union.
Finally, out of need, the Feds have channeled their energy and are making progress.
If it’s not followed through, it will remain as “Break Glass in Case of Fire.” Hats off to progress.jw
I just won’t to see more African American men and women fighting these wildland fires, because I was th only black in my station in Oregon,wasn’t fair to me.
Wow Really?
The Forest Service gets paid a lot better than State Agency Firefighters that do that exact same job, no one is talking about that? Sounds like a bunch of babies.
This isn’t helpful. If state employees are under payed in a similar manner than they deserve to be compensated better. I don’t think anyone working a hazardous job deserves to live in poverty, paycheck to paycheck, or below a reasonable standard of living.
I do not understand the desire for employees of different agencies to snipe at each other over who deserves more or who has it worse. The reality is, we all deserve better. None of this is intended to diminish the role of, for example a DNR or Cal Fire Fire Fighter or comtractors for that matter, it’s simply advocacy for better treatment of federal primary fire forestry techs. Given that the fed employs the majority of wildland fire fighters a better compensation and benefits plan has the potential to set an industry standard that states have to meet if they want to remain competitive
Been a forestry tech for 10 years, every year I’ve noticed A LOT of great mentors I’ve looked up to leave the agency, these are people that have put in time as much as me and more , suddenly leaving. Staffing has been more and more of an issue with management pretty much almost demanding you work your days off to staff a module. I have a life at home I don’t live to work I should not be feeling like crap for wanting to take my days off from work but every year is the same with it not getting any better. Obviously the pay is a major factor …how do you accept the fact that forestry techs qualify for welfare.
The comparison to Cal Fire is interesting – is it still true that Cal Fire employees do not earn overtime? That should certainly be included in that comparison if that is the case.
They earn overtime, not sure where you got your source from…
Calfire gets overtime. I really wish they would stop comparing Calfire with USFS because they do different jobs. Really the only thing Calfire Firefighters and USFS Firefighter do in common is fight wildland Fire and do hazard reduction. Calfire Firefighters work minimum 72 hour shifts, fight structure fires, vehicle fires (which on occasion so does USFS), respond to medical aids, respond to vehicle crashes, perform rope rescue along with other technical rescues and so on. Calfire also requires a lot more training to be a fully certified Firefighter. In no way am I saying Calfire Firefighters are better, they just do a different job.
How do we pay real people that are doing real things that matter?? Stop paying for BS programs and issues that do not sustain Life, property or Resources.
There are many sacrifices that come along with this occupation, being away from my family for significant portions of the year is the biggest one..we accept that and get into a rhythm with it every year. A raise would be nice but I think we would still be getting a ton of OT per year regardless. It’d be great if we only needed maybe 500 hrs of OT in a season instead of 1,000+ (which btw is now the norm for IHCs and typically on my crew it’s more like 1,200). Maybe add more crews and stagger schedules so people have more time off but with a raise can still make a decent and competitive wage. I’d be ok making 65k a year on 500 ot or less. That’d be amazing from my perspective.
There’s so much more this article could mention like being a 13/13 permanent and not making enough money to buy a house or even make rent in some places , to working 800-1000 hours of overtime year after year to not have it count towards your retirement from the government. To not even being classified as a actual firefighter, allowing for benefits down the line if you were to get cancer or hurt etc… you can put in 19 years as a perm as a fed and get hurt not be able to take the pack test and loose out on your fire frighten retirement because you didn’t make it 20. So many things behind the curtains that just make doing this job in worthwhile. I got into this profession at 18 years old and it was awesome and felt so worth while. 15 years later the politics the agency not having your best interests in mind the lack of pay to name a few make it hard to go to work. Makes me wonder if every federal firefighter just decided to only work the 40 hours a week that there benefits the whopping 1.7% retirement percentage what would happen? Would fires just sit out there and just blow up?? Just feel that so many people take forestry technicians for granted when will it change??? Also I feel states need to pay there state fire guys more too. The article only mentions cal fire which lets be real they just throw money away 24 on 24 off, hotels every night instead of fire camp the list can go on and on in that state!!! But then look at the state of South Dakota where a battalion chief makes a whole 24.69 a hour!!!!!!!!! Ic3 or RXB3. 24.69 a hour!!! What a joke no hazard pay either. I don’t know what a entry level position makes there but can only imagine it’s pretty low
I am for paying firefighters $15 and more (a lot more!), but how do we do that with shrinking budgets?
It’s actually not that complicated. OT and hazard pay depend on the season and where you’re working, never guaranteed. Night shift isn’t that common and pays a whopping 10% for the time you’re on it, the meals at camp are not particularly good and if you’re on perdiem you’re not really pocketing big dollars unless you want to subsist on nothing but PB&J for 2 weeks. Workman’s comp doesn’t put food on the table so I don’t know why you mention that; if you get hurt doing the job it’s just the right thing to do for your employer to cover it, that’s not a damn perk. Not sure what you mean by travel that isn’t included in meals and lodging, which lodging isn’t pay. It’s reimbursement for money spent, so net = zero.
You don’t present a very strong argument for the burger flippers to make a higher base wage than people who are risking their lives. I’ll admit it’s a choice, I’d be miserable doing that job and hats off to those who do put up with the BS that entails, but still…
Was ff for 40 yrs, more complicated than article covers. Gs3 would also recieve OT, haz pay, night shift diff, meals, workmans comp, travel, sometimes lodging.
Dennis, I’m a GS-6, multiple single resource qualified federal fire fighter. If I don’t get 800 hours of overtime in a season, I can’t afford rent in my hometown in the intermountain west. We have seasonals and perm seasonals who opt to be homeless instead of living pay check to pay check or worse because starting rent for a studio here is about 1200 to 1700 per month. If. Gs3 has a slow month there take home is about 400 per week. So yes, there is hazard pay, and diff, and OT but there isn’t always fire, or availability, or funding for seasonals or perm seasonals to work longer in a given year. So, what it comes down to, the agency invests a lot in training and experience, but unless you chase an unsustainable lifestyle you won’t make enough to survive in a lot of places. If you are in your late 20s and just getting starting you have to choose, a career in primary fire, or a partner, kids, a home. Otherwise this career become the niche of those seeking adventure and adrenaline but the days of an agency career promoting social mobility, a healthy family, and a middle class lifestyle are gone.
Cost of living has to be factored in!!!!!
It would be nice if the Florida state park park rangers would be included to also get raised up to 15 per hour. We are stuck for life at less than 27000 per year
These wildfire firefighters should be paid at least $30.00 after their formal training.
As a former volunteer firefighter in Indiana I know what it is like for what they are going through.
Because of the Working conditions , hazardous duty , living situations , etc I believe that the starting pay should be $ 20 /hr !
I agree with this opinion.
I agree. Pay them a lot more. It’s ridiculous that people like real estate agents get so much money for what they do.