Editorial #3

This week I chose a Washington Post editorial entitled Red Ink and Raises. It focuses mostly on the firefighters union and Montgomery County’s budget plan. John Sparks, who heads the union, is not willing to give up the four percent salary increase that was due to firefighters this year as a cost-of-living adjustment. However, the county Executive Isiah Leggett is refusing to approve the pay increase in the tight budget. The budget is currently in a 450 million dollar deficit, so other county employees such as teachers and school officials agreed to forfeit their pay increases this year. The firefighters union wants to keep it’s increase, costing the county an unnecessary seven million dollars. This alone would not be a big deal, except that it could cause other unions to change their mind and demand their raises as well. This puts Isiah Leggett in a rough spot because he can not grant the firefighters their request with out angering other unions. He has the choice to either refuse to fund the cost-of-living adjustments or risk fiscal calamity.

My first reaction to this article was surprise. I think it was very generous of all of the employees that did agree to give up their cost-of-living adjustment salary increase this year. However, I do not like the way the article makes the firefighters look. They have a right to demand that increase, and some of them might really need it. I understand all the problems that it is causing, but they risk their lives to save others and deserve to be compensated for it. I also do not think it is fair to judge firefighters as a whole, because it is the union and its representatives that are causing the problem. I look forward to reading later articles to discover the outcome of Montgomery County’s budget, and how the firefighters were affected.