Here is a prime example brought up by FF as to what Gov Gregoire has done for fire personnel:
HE DEID 5 YRS AGO FROM COLON CANCER AT 63 I THINK BECAUSE OF EXPOSURE OF STUFF HE BREATHED IN AT FIRE CALLS AND BURNING CRACK HOUSES.
As with any trade, there are different types of on-the-job injuries. Anyone here that works construction jobs can attest that L&I provides disability benefits if you are hurt in the line of your work. Say you hurt your back moving a truss. You pay for L&I insurance through your income. If you are hurt and deemed disabled, you receive a benefit based on your disability to compensate for lost work, inability to do your previous job, and reeducation benefits.
In my line of work, carcinogens are everywhere. We live in a cancerous world at work, as well as exposure to HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, MRSA, etc etc. Gov Gregoire has given us the ability to prove that things such as lung and throat cancer are actually on the job injuries (this is weighed by a panel of elected officials, who weed out cases where something like a lifelong smoker tries to sneak in). As such disability benefits that we have paid for through our entire career are made available to pay for medical costs. This is something hard-fought and she was willing to put it to the reps to vote on. We continue to try to prove other cancers like skin cancer at the areas exposed (neck, face, hands) to the largest levels of carcinogens are also on the job injuries so that treatment costs can be managed.
As for training, have you seen the WSP training facility at North Bend? This is a state-funded facility for which the city also pays a portion for our training. This facility provides things like a high-rise burn tower to train us for very specific firefighting jobs that we cannot afford at the city levels to provide. She has fully funded the program time and again so that those of us on the street can provide the best possible services through highly trained individuals.
Pay and benefits protection comes via collective bargaining and preventing Wa from becoming a Right-To-Work state. In doing so, we have a stronger voice when the city attempts to do things like reduce our staffing or cut promotable positions, which directly effects our potential for advancement. Imagine working for a company that only has 3 positions for which you can promote and increase pay. Then the employer just does away with one, so you can either have this job or that job, and unless you can get the timing right, you don't ever get promoted. Makes you want to leave for a more lucrative company doesn't it?
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Now that is hosed!
:shaking2: ](./images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall"){kind=small}
