FRUSTRATED FIREMEN

WORKERS NOT SATISFIED WITH SALARIES, BENEFITS AS PRESSURE MOUNTS

By Sheria Brathwaite

The island’s firefighters want more pay and other employment benefits and will be outlining their demands in a document to be sent off to the administration of the Barbados Fire Service and Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams.
Chairman of the Barbados Fire Service Association Corrie Bridgeman said that more than 90 per cent of fire officers are unsatisfied with their salaries, taking into account the dangers they are exposed to in the line of duty.
Bridgeman told Barbados TODAY that scores of officers were frustrated and deserved better.
“It can be frustrating. You have a situation where we believe that we don’t get paid enough money based on the risks involved and all the other things that are involved. But it’s something that needs a discussion at a higher level to put to the powers that be that they need to look at increasing salaries for our officers,” he said.
“When you really look at what we do, the dangers and risks, all these things are increasing, so we need something that matches what we do. It’s pretty disturbing for a lot of us.”
Bridgeman added that officers also wanted hazard pay.
“You have to be really strategic and articulate in stating why you need hazard pay and the committee has been diligently compiling information to argue for that. Yes, we have training but there are a lot of associated dangers as it relates to fire. So we want to make sure that on a daily basis, officers are not only covered by protective equipment but some sort of monetary compensation outside of their salary.
“Let’s take for example the increase in fires for the year, which at one point had all of us stretched as there was a major fire every day for the span of a month. Then when you think of modern technology, let’s say electric vehicles which are very challenging to deal with if they catch fire, [we have to] take such things into consideration. Are we really compensated fairly for these kinds of events? If you ask 90-plus per cent of the officers, they will tell you ‘no’.”
The association chairman said he could not give a timeline as to when the document to be sent to Minister Abrahams would be completed as it would take time to compile research to make the requests sound.
The fire officers’ other demands include medical insurance, early retirement and more timely promotions.
“Medical insurance is an issue as well as early retirement. You don’t want a person at a certain age climbing a truck. So we are looking at 60 as the cut-off point and we are collecting data to justify why we are looking at this age,” Bridgeman explained.
As it relates to promotions, he acknowledged that the recent promotion of five fire officers to the post of station officer was a step in the right direction.
However, he said, there have not been promotions at the lower rank in more than 20 years.
“Officers need the opportunity to have upward movement. A lot of them have the skills and prerequisites so we’re just hoping that this year can be fruitful in that regard,” he said.
Though stressing that the fire officers’ concerns were serious, Bridgeman said industrial action had not been taken because “we have a duty to protect property and lives and we just love what we do”.
He added that despite the challenges, there is still high interest in the Fire Service.
“The salary may not be attractive enough but people still gravitate toward the service. We never had a shortage of applicants,” Bridgeman said.
The Barbados Fire Service has a staff complement of 225 officers.
sheriabrathwaite@barbadostoday.bb