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The DeSantis gambit

If you were to work at another fire department they would have to offer you more money per year to get the equivalent compensation.

That would be a challenge. CFTOD increased the salaries of firefighters considerably.

https://www.firerescue1.com/union/a...ract-boosts-firefighter-pay-apkY3AkdmKX3N1JC/

The pay raise was big enough that other municipalities allegedly tried to keep CFTOD from signing the contract because of concern that they would have to raise salaries as well.

So yeah, CFTOD took away a benefit that was illegal to offer in the first place. But in it's place they gave the firefighters a large pay raise. I think they'll be fine.
 
I'm shocked Lord Desantis didn't have the commie pigs rounded up and shot. A public sector union? In the God's Free State of Florida?
 
I'm shocked Lord Desantis didn't have the commie pigs rounded up and shot. A public sector union? In the God's Free State of Florida?

I know you intended this as a dig at DeSantis, but really, it only makes you seem out of touch.
 
Ya I forgot, right-wingers don't really have principles or any sort of consistent ideology. They'll team with Vladimir Lenin himself if it means more power for them. And they love one specific public sector "union". The one that enforces government will with violence.
 
So, you're in favor of public sector unions now?

Trying to substitute DeSantis's opinion for CFTOD's actions is one thing, but now you're trying to substitute mine? That's pathetic. CFTOD isn't even aware I exist, and they certainly don't care about my opinion on public sector unions.
 
Re: removing the "free passes" to disneyworld from firefighters...
If you were to work at another fire department they would have to offer you more money per year to get the equivalent compensation.
That would be a challenge. CFTOD increased the salaries of firefighters considerably.
...
So yeah, CFTOD took away a benefit that was illegal to offer in the first place. But in it's place they gave the firefighters a large pay raise. I think they'll be fine.
Yes, according to your reference, they did give firefighters there a pay raise. But it wasn't done "in place of" their disney tickets. It was done to help retention and staffing levels in general, suggesting that working there might not have been that attractive to people wanting to work as fire fighters.

And the removal of the passes seemed to have been done over a month after their pay raise. So its a case of "we will give you a big boost in benefits and then take part of it away". Why didn't they do the 2 things simultaneously? Or take away the passes first so that the firefighters could decide how valuable they were when it came to their new contract?
 
Yes, according to your reference, they did give firefighters there a pay raise. But it wasn't done "in place of" their disney tickets. It was done to help retention and staffing levels in general, suggesting that working there might not have been that attractive to people wanting to work as fire fighters.

And the removal of the passes seemed to have been done over a month after their pay raise.

Nope. They were done at the same time. There's only one contract. CFTOD did not make a second change to that contract.

Why didn't they do the 2 things simultaneously?

They did. The contract was signed in July and went into effect in August. After it went into effect, some members got upset when they realized they lost this perk. But again, the perk was illegal, CFTOD never had the option of offering it no matter how much some members wanted it.
 
Yes, according to your reference, they did give firefighters there a pay raise. But it wasn't done "in place of" their disney tickets. It was done to help retention and staffing levels in general, suggesting that working there might not have been that attractive to people wanting to work as fire fighters.

And the removal of the passes seemed to have been done over a month after their pay raise.
Nope. They were done at the same time. There's only one contract. CFTOD did not make a second change to that contract.
From your article: The increase in pay was dated July 26, 2023.

From the following article: (in APNews), the elimination of the free passes was announced in late August.

Last time I checked, July and August were 2 totally different different months. They have different names and everything.
 
From your article: The increase in pay was dated July 26, 2023.

From the following article: (in APNews), the elimination of the free passes was announced in late August.

First, your link was broken, I fixed it.

Second, what exactly do you mean by "announced"?

CFTOD submitted a complaint to the Inspector General in August. That's what your article says. That's not an announcement. And given that all payments and benefits are dictated by the contract that was signed in July, and no mention is ever made of any changes to that contract in this or any other story linked to so far (which CFTOD wouldn't be able to do unilaterally anyways), what makes you think that there was a change?

Last time I checked, July and August were 2 totally different different months. They have different names and everything.

Snark doesn't substitute for facts. The facts we have are that the negotiated contract was signed in July, it went into effect in August, some fire department employees voiced complaints in August about losing their passes, and CFTOD submitted a complaint to the Inspector General in August. None of that indicates that there was any change to the contract after signing, or that the benefit was somehow removed after signing.

Again, CFTOD cannot unilaterally change a negotiated contract. And the union would have no reason to agree to give up a benefit for nothing in return, especially if they've already got a signed contract in hand, which they did by the end of July. Your entire hypothesis makes zero sense.
 
If you are the type of person who LIKES theme parks (and would probably visit disneyland anyways) then that $500 could be seen as a rather nice yearly bonus that Meatball Ron and his Klan are taking away. If you were to work at another fire department they would have to offer you more money per year to get the equivalent compensation.

More news on this front.

https://www.piratesandprincesses.ne...d-after-removing-disney-annual-pass-benefits/

CFTOD had to remove the pass benefit because, again, it was illegal. In its place they're giving employees a stipend ($3,000 per year for full time employees) with which they can buy such passes themselves. But considering that about 70% of the passes didn't even get used, a cash stipend is actually much better for most employees. If they want to go to the park a lot, they can still buy a pass with that stipend. If they want to only go once or twice, they can buy tickets and have a bunch of cash left over. And if they don't go at all (which, again, a lot of employees didn't), then they can spend that money on something else.

This narrative that CFTOD is trying to screw over employees just doesn't hold water. It's a fake controversy.
 
Does anyone remember that this guy was supposed to become the front runner?

In the final question, the candidates were asked which former president they draw inspiration from.

Christie said Ronald Reagan, because he was a “slave to the truth”. Haley said George Washington. DeSantis said Calvin Coolidge, someone who “knew the proper role of the president” and small government. Ramaswamy chose Thomas Jefferson, for his youth.

That's a hilariously DeSantis-type answer. One that's weird and makes people go "WTF?!?" I mean, the other three's answers are just boiler-plate, but of course they are reading the room: Reagan, Washington, Jefferson. Obviously normal choices.
 
Over 600 books have been removed from school shelves in Orange County, FL thanks to the extremist DeSantis anti-education movement. These classic book are among them:

Paradise Lost by Milton
Catch 22 by Heller
Swann's way by Proust
Jude the Obscure by Hardy
The House of Bernarda Alba by Garcia-Lorca
The Quiet American by Greene
Beloved by Morrison
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Sparks
East of Eden by Steinbeck
Brave New World by Huxley
(Orland Sentinel)

:mad::mad::mad:
 
Over 600 books have been removed from school shelves in Orange County, FL thanks to the extremist DeSantis anti-education movement. These classic book are among them:

Paradise Lost by Milton
Catch 22 by Heller
Swann's way by Proust
Jude the Obscure by Hardy
The House of Bernarda Alba by Garcia-Lorca
The Quiet American by Greene
Beloved by Morrison
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie by Sparks
East of Eden by Steinbeck
Brave New World by Huxley
(Orland Sentinel)

:mad::mad::mad:

This has probably done more than anything to make students go and get copies at a public library or online so they can actually read them. The actual opposite effect of what was intended.
 
Back on 16th May 2023

De Santis has now fully primed the pump: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/15/ron-desantis-florida-laws-presidential-run

I'll predict now that opinion polls will show him leading the nomination field within two weeks of his finally stating his intent to run.
Bets welcome!

You think he will lead Trump for the GOP nomination?

Nah! I think Trump will be the leader and win the nomination.

I said I welcomed bets.

I think Trump's support will wither once de Santis steps in the ring. He's everything the Republicans want - younger, anti-everything-that-triggers-libtards, far right on guns, and free of baggage.

Of course, it never looked likely that DeSantis would beat Trump. Really the only chance DeSantis has is if Trump is rendered ineligible by the courts. Even then, it seems clear that Vivek is trying to soak up any voters left by a vacant Trump, and Nikki Haley is taking votes from the non-lunatic fringe of the party.
 
Of course, it never looked likely that DeSantis would beat Trump. Really the only chance DeSantis has is if Trump is rendered ineligible by the courts. Even then, it seems clear that Vivek is trying to soak up any voters left by a vacant Trump, and Nikki Haley is taking votes from the non-lunatic fringe of the party.

Or rendered ineligible by raging insanity requiring restraint (which he pretty much is at now), fleeing the country as a fugitive from justice, or death. I would be taking bets on one of these particularly.
 
Or rendered ineligible by raging insanity requiring restraint (which he pretty much is at now), fleeing the country as a fugitive from justice, or death. I would be taking bets on one of these particularly.

I honestly think that insanity, fleeing the country and death might not even be an impediment. People would probably vote for Trump if his gibbering corpse was televised and beamed to the Republican Conference from Buenos Aires with Milei propping him up on one side and Orban the other. They would probably take him over DeSantis, and honestly we'd have to admit that between DeSantis and a rotting corpse, I really am not sure which is most unpleasant.
 

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