Fire Brass Resignations

Well, they did it:

• Thirty-two members of the Chicago Fire Department’s brass resigned their exempt positions Monday and returned to rank-and-file status in a fight over pay and benefits that will cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.
  The bosses will return to their career service ranks of battalion chief and, in one case, paramedic field chief, but will continue to “act up” in their exempt positions.
  
  That means the 32 will now be eligible for overtime, holiday pay, duty availability, hazmat and other forms of supplemental and specialty pay afforded to members of the rank-and-file.
  
  They resigned en masse at 8 a.m. Monday. They represent more than half of the brass on the fire suppression side of the Chicago Fire Department but just one of roughly a dozen bosses overseeing emergency medical services.

What's the solution? Bankrupt another pension system:

• ...the state pension code doesn’t allow exempt fire officers to earn pension benefits based on their current salary. Instead, their pension benefits are based on the lower salary of their most recent union-covered job.
  
  All of that can result in a loss of thousands of dollars in pay each year for exempts — sometimes $20,000 or $25,000, sources say.
  
  Pending state legislation known as a “brass bill” would allow exempt fire employees to earn a pension based on the pay for their current jobs.

We all see where the CPD brass is draining the pension at a massive rate due to political promotions - they did nothing to earn an exempt pension except exploit the right connections, sleep with the correct person, or be part of the lucky sperm club. Now CFD brass want the same thing - a pension based on political considerations rather than earned.

We were actually hoping that the CFD system would be forced on the CPD brass.