Sam Metz' July 1 article, "Labor shortage cuts into federal firefighter crews," clearly explains why this situation exists. Last year, President Joe Biden signed an executive order increasing federal firefighter pay to $15 an hour. That's still a poverty wage. But it also begs the question, just how low were their salaries before then?
Now the Biden administration has announced that infrastructure bill funds will go to paying firefighters a raise of either 50 percent or $20,000. Naturally, whichever is less. Also, the raise is only for two years.
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