UPDATE: Firefighters continue downtown protest

Published 7:15 am Thursday, July 28, 2022

Firefighters from the local union were back out with posters in Downtown Lake Charles on Wednesday, July 27. They are continuing efforts to make the public aware of their $11.17 hourly wage. It discourages new recruits, results in understaffing and requires too much overtime and sometimes a second job to make “ends meet,” said Jared Chandler, LCFD firefighter and local union liaison.

Carlyss Firefighters start at $12.45 and Sulphur firefighters start at $12.62, according to Chandler. The population of Beaumont is larger than Lake Charles, but similar in terms of geography and industry. Firefighters make $4,496 paid bi-weekly, according to the department’s recruitment website.

As a response to Monday’s protest, City Administrator John Cardone said the $11.17 hourly wage didn’t provide a complete picture of pay. A more accurate reflection is $39,400 annually because of overtime pay built into the work/pay period cycle plus a city supplement of $6,000.

At the request of the American Press, the city provided the average take home pay for the rank of firefighter with one to three years experience. In 2020, the average was $53,295 before taxes.

Chandler said a firefighter would have to work 4,771.26 hours of overtime to make that amount.

“So you’ve got a guy that’s not been home for days to his wife and kids who’s just trying to make ends meet,” Chandler said.

An example of a firefighter’s shift/pay cycle is a series of 24-hours on and 24-hours off shifts that adjusts to allow for two back-to-back days off twice in a two-week pay period and a full week off in a three-week cycle.

“It looks great on paper, Chandler said. “The actual experience is, guys are stuck at work for two weeks on end. The other day I was called on my week off to cover a shift.”

“The way the city used to sell the job is that you have enough time to take a second job,” said Terence Thomas, union president.”

Chandler said Fire Chief Delbert Carter has responded in a positive way to burnout within the department. Firefighters are working fewer 72-hour shifts, which they can be required or forced to do by state law. However, no policy has been adopted, to his knowledge, that allows volunteering for overtime via an app as reported.

Firefighters not only work overtime to make more money, according to Chandler, they also work overtime out of a sense of obligation. Fire trucks require a driver and a captain to leave the bay.

“It’s browned out without them. That means it’s not permanently out of service but temporarily out of service because of understaffing,” Chandler said.

He noted the call will still be covered, and covered by four fire trucks, but depending on the location, understaffing issues could, in his opinion, potentially affect response time.

Finally, he said conditions aren’t ideal when the ill or injured show up for shifts and  “suck it up” to receive overtime pay. They do it because missing or going home during a regularly assigned shift in the 21-day work cycle allows the city to “dock overtime worked as straight pay.”

Chandler firefighter union members were using scheduled days off or vacation days, available after a year,  to protest.