Defend Our Country and This is What You Get?

Once again,...the Philadelphia Department of (John) Street reaches out to offend more of its citizenry!

From the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin:

They Fought Fires,
They Fought in Iraq,
And Now They Are Fighting City Council

by Jim McCaffrey

Firefighters and Air Force reservists Chris McCormick, Rich Brown and Jim Bonner came to the meeting of City Council's Joint Committees on Labor, Civil Service and Public Safety to plead for back pay, seniority, and pension they believe they are legally owed.

The three reservists testified they were called up to serve in Operation Iraqi freedom.

During their tour of duty they became eligible to test for promotion in the Philadelphia Fire Department.

Each man took the written test in April 2004 and passed. Each finished among the top 20 of all those taking the written test.

When the men returned from their tour last August they asked to take the oral test.

It was not given to them until February of this year. Though they all passed the oral exam, they were not promoted.

The men went to their Firefighters Union Local 22 and asked for help lobbying for the promotions they believe were guaranteed by federal law. Finally, two weeks ago, through the intercession of Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers, the men received their promotions.

In all,.these men were screwed out of approximately $25000 in back wages by the city.