6 weeks ago we got confirmation from our county judge that the county employees will get a bonus this year (today. November 15, 2023) of $1,500-$3,500 depending on our years of service, attendance, and performance.
Well it was a shock today to find out that instead of our bonuses, we just our regular paychecks and we're told that our quorum court were holding our bonuses hostage until they got to the bottom of our county judge approving the bonus without going to them first (which isnt required btw).
INSTEAD OF SOLVING THIS ISSUE TODAY AT THEIR EMERGENCY MEETING so we could at the very least get these bonuses before black Friday. Quorum court spent 2 hours in their emergency meeting bitching and complaining about how the judge “DiDn'T cOnSuLt ThEm FiRsT”
Mind you, I'm a 911 dispatcher. I work, 24/7/365. So do the other 30 employees that work with me. We miss holidays, weekends, anniversaries, moments with our kids, moments with our spouses, etc to be here and staff the dispatch center. We also only make $31k a year, and most of us have 2 to 3 jobs just to pay bills and get food so we dont freeze or starve to death. Quorum court members get weekends off, they get holidays off, they get anniversaries off, they get moments with their family and children. They also make anywhere from $50,000-$90,000 a year…. depending on their position within the quorum court. Just to meet twice a month… for 12 months. So 26 times a year. For 2 hours each meeting. So for 52 hours a year… just to bitch an complain… they make $1,000+ an hour…
This also hurts, because last year they outright denied us bonuses because, and I quote, “the budget this year does not allow for yearly bonuses.” But in the same breath all the court officials received raises when we didn't. In the month of January alone…. Every. Single. County. Employee (apart from 911 dispatch, and deputies) got brand new cars. Also to rub in the fact that most of us dispatchers and deputies couldn't even afford Christmas. We couldn't afford Thanksgiving or Christmas food. We couldn't even afford $20 maximun for the secret Santa we usually do at dispatch. That's how out of money we were, and still are this year.
When we heard that we were getting bonuses, and bonuses of that amount when years past the max we could receive was $1,500, many of us employees down in dispatch and the deputies actually physically cried. This is how we are going to afford Christmas. This is how we are going to afford food on our table. Many of us were going to use this money to catch up on bills. I personally was going to use this money to get all the equipment my insurance won't cover for when I detox off a very heavy medication I'm on for my chronic nerve pain disease.
We were promised this money. All of us are banking on this bonus. All of us can't even afford to pay our house bills on our salaries. Let alone food or basic care and cleaning products. And since they changed our insurance this year. Our insurance doesn't cover 70%-95% of our medication cost anymore. They will only cover 35%-50% of the medications many of us employees take. So now, instead of paying $25 a month for my medications. I'm paying $75-$100 for my medications. This is the reality for us dispatchers and deputies while the courthouse employees are living in luxury.
I don't know how much longer I can do this job. I love my job, don't get me wrong. I've been here for 3 years. I've helped thousands of people. I love helping people. But this job is one of the most stressful first responder jobs. Suicide rates are the highest for 911 dispatcher and EMTs among all first responders. Yet we are never appreciated. We never get raises. We never get the praises. Nothing. Hell…. we can't even get a bonus we were fucking promised… I can't keep doing this job if I can't at the very least get some recognition or appreciation.