This employment fiction was known as featherbedding, because its critics imagined the firemen not to be really working, but living a life of luxury at the public's expense.
From the tardy and timorous response to the pensions mess to the drift and confusion which marked its handling of the firemen's strike, the government no longer looks sure-footed.
That is especially true of the negotiations going on between Richard Daley, the mayor of Chicago, and the city's firemen (including its few firewomen), whose contract expired in June.The union has asked for a 37% pay rise over a 30-month period, and two new paid holidays: Arbor Day and Bud Billiken Day.
The black comedy of "Firemen" requires its heroine to react to the self- immolation of her ex-husband on her front lawn by embarking on an affair with the fireman who puts him out (the joke is that even the fireman finds her behaviour implausible).
But Colony will need to cash out and return money to its investors–schoolteachers and firemen in the U.S., invested through pension funds.
Tells about the city's fiscal problems which will be pressured even more because of the contract renewal with its uniformed employees--policemen, firemen, & sanitationmen.
The Russian Embassy there burned to the ground, whereupon its occupants complained that the firemen were too poky about fighting the blaze.
Last year the Vintage Showroom, a London store, produced a book about its wares, including gear for firemen, motorcycle racers and Arctic explorers, in "Vintage Menswear: A Collection From the Vintage Showroom" (Laurence King/Chronicle Books).
From its efforts to help save the Bonobo ape, to its Band of Brothers program, which provides discounts to teachers, firemen, nurses and others in service professions, Bonobos wears its heart on its sleeve, and allows its customers to share its brand values.
As the ship slowly went down by the head, the engineers and firemen stayed below, keeping its electrics working until the final moments.
