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Blog Entry 27 of 35 Dooty and Honor
My take on the political scene, spiced with bits of life-as-it-happens. I'll try and separate the fertilizer from the facts, at least as I see it. Coming from the perspective of a not-so-average guy with little or no respect for sacred cows, moose or squirrels. A master debater and wielder of a needle-sharp wit guaranteed to pop the toughest gasbag. Count on seeing people you know and love lampooned and harpooned with impunity and puns galore. No one will be spared, that's a promise. (Note: this blog not recommended for the humor-impaired and you know who you is.)

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~dootyandhonor

Their workplace is harm's way

Contributed by: Doug Wray   on 9/21/2008

The next time you hear a siren howling through your neighborhood late at night say a prayer of thanks that brave and dedicated men and women are on their way to a workplace you and I can barely conceive of: harm's way.

House on fire? Who do you call?

Bomb-maker in your neighborhood? Who do you call?

Terrible traffic accident - complete with hazardous materials? Who do you call?

That's right - Longmont Police and Longmont Fire.

Does it matter what time it is or what the conditions are? No. They always respond.

Now they need us to respond and I believe they're asking for what is only their due: the right to have a voice in their compensation.

A very small group of powerful people are spending a lot of money to stop this initiative because they don't believe ANY worker has a right to ANY voice - EVER.

It's time for Longmont's intelligent citizens to stand up and support those who support Longmont in it's hour of need.

Support the brave and dedicated men and women who answer the call every time Longmont cries out in dire emergency - who pledge to put your life before theirs.

Don't believe the lies and distortions, remember who pulled your friend out of the mangled car, who saved your house, who rescued your child from danger.

It's not just a paycheck - it's their lives and ours.

Support 2A this November 4th.

Get the facts here.


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Showing 1-10 of 17 comments
Submitted By: Doug Wray
posted on 10/7/2008 @ 9:19:39 PM
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I've noticed there are a LOT of vets in the police and fire department. These men and women paid they dues in the military, then came home and stood up to serve AGAIN. Anyone that opposes giving these people a voice denies that they, more than so many others, deserve it MORE - they've proven their worthiness.
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Submitted By: Bing Van Gorden
posted on 10/1/2008 @ 11:27:32 AM
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It's a shame that there is such anti-labor sentiment inthis country. Caldera, that fascist pig, called unions terrorists the other day. Whether you belong to a union or not, they affect your wages, raising them. We get rid of unions worker's rights and decent wages will go out the window. The privatization crowd wants to ensure that only the wealthy can recieve help from fire and police as we saw in San Diego last Summer. If you could afford it, your home might be saved. If not, oh well, you should have worked harder or made better decisions. God help us.
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Submitted By: Doug Wray
posted on 9/23/2008 @ 11:53:27 PM
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David, I intend to offer my services to both the Firefighters and the Police to build them MUCH better websites - they deserve it. Your assistance in testing would be most welcomed - you've proven yourself sharp of eye! :-)
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Submitted By: David Brown
posted on 9/23/2008 @ 9:31:43 PM
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Thanks Michael, you reply does indeed help. I saw in the TC that the Fire Fighters overwhelmingly supported it (didn't run the numbers - it was obvious.) But I also saw in the TC article, "However, when officials broke down the count to include only those who would be part of a collective bargaining unit, the numbers shifted: 53 percent supported forming a union, and 47 percent were against it." That's pretty close for me. I agree with you that I shouldn't take one source as the definitive word but info is lacking on this issue. It seems all there is besides the TC is the union web site. I wish there were more.
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Submitted By: Kenneth Miller
posted on 9/23/2008 @ 4:39:43 PM
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I have a good friend who is a cop here. I asked him about this. A few things he said surprised me. He supports collective bargaining. He said that it is not about wages or benefits. He said pay & benefits is good compared to similar departments. He told me they don’t have a retirement pension. They have a 401 K and no retirement health care other than an RHS. Even though physical standards of the job make them leave much earlier than most workers. He said the driving force behind this movement in the police ranks for years has nothing to do with any of that. He said they want a formal voice in the workplace. He said they want the right to representation on workplace issues. I don’t think that is a lot to ask for. I think the people who are speaking out against this have it all wrong and are misinformed. The cops are trying hard to get the truth out on this but it is not easy. Their info web site goes a long way to help that. I support his position and will be voting yes.
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Submitted By: James Young
posted on 9/23/2008 @ 9:28:55 AM
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The way I see this is the fire fighters and police officers have been trying to get this for several years. They have not given up. That tells me it was not just a whim. That tells me this is needed. Problems in every workplace come and go. With that flow so does an employee’s perception of how to correct those problems. In this case the perception has not changed. I see that as a need that goes beyond daily issues. It speaks about a constant underlying problem that needs to be fixed. These people have for several years said the fix is in giving them this right. They are the experts. They are the ones who live in that environment daily. No one can sustain a goal like this for this long without validity. I believe them and I support this.
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Submitted By: Tim Collins
posted on 9/22/2008 @ 11:33:04 PM
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Before moving here I lived in 4 other cities. In those cities the police officers and fire fighters had unions. It is very common in most places. I never heard or read of any problems where I have lived. Until this came up in the news I assumed they had a union here. I read what’s on the web site. I see no problem with this. I find it hard to believe it is even an issue.
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Submitted By: Misty Johnson
posted on 9/22/2008 @ 11:09:02 PM
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If we can't trust our firemen who can we trust? I really appreciate what they do for us. I am in favor of what they need. The police also put their lives on the line for us. They should be able to have a say in their work too. I am going to vote yes for this. Thank you for being there for us!!!!
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Submitted By: Michael Violette
posted on 9/22/2008 @ 10:29:57 PM
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By the way it is always wise not to believe everything in the paper. As the reporting rarely presents all of the information and often gives the wrong picture. The totals I gave you are accurate and are directly from the police and fire totals votes broken down to how the police officers and firefighters voted. This is as much a firefighter issue as it is police. The breakdown gives a clearer picture of the desire of those who would directly benefit from this amendment, and those who this is really about. The chief said he allowed everyone a vote even if they weren’t covered so he could see how all his people felt including secretaries and command staff. That would have been fine if he would have revealed the full breakdown of the results by group. The way it was released only created confusion and gave a false impression of what the officers’ sentiments were. That was unfortunate.
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Submitted By: Michael Violette
posted on 9/22/2008 @ 9:48:52 PM
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(continued) In 2006 the FOP membership voted unanimously to include in their local constitution & bylaws a mandate directing their board to take whatever steps were necessary to gain collective bargaining. The other factor here is that as of October 10th Chief Mike Butler will no longer be the chief of police. He will be the Public Safety Director. There will be no chief in either fire or police. He will be responsible for the new Dept of Public Safety. The firefighters also had a vote. It did not include civilians and command staff. They voted 92% in favor. Director Butler will now command a police and fire staff where over 74% of the firefighters and police officers of his new staff voted in favor of collective bargaining. I hope this helps your confusion. Mike Violette - Colorado FOP
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Showing 1-10 of 17 comments
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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Doug Wray

Longmont , CO

Doug Wray has posted 35 blog entries and 406 comments since joining on 12/2/2006. Doug Wray 's average blog rating is 3.02.
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