Over the Labor Day weekend, thousands of wildland firefighters were told they’d be receiving a 50% bump in their pay. It was welcome news since a temporary pay raise is set to expire this month.
But, as it turns out, those raises were a mistake.
According to documents and emails sent to KUNM these massive pay bumps were sent only to firefighters with the U.S. Forest Service.
Some firefighters even reported having extra money deposited in their accounts.
Then, on Tuesday morning, the Forest Service sent out an organization-wide email claiming the staggering bump was a mistake thanks to new “upgrades” to their pay delivery system and these notifications occurred “unintentionally.”
KUNM spoke with a wildland firefighter based here in the Southwest, who said when the raises turned out to be fake, they feared others might quit or prematurely retire –– adding to a slew of job vacancies across the country. This person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of a fear of retaliation.
Currently, a temporary base pay raise of 50% or $20,000 - depending on whichever came first - is set to expire on September 30th. A bill making its rounds in Congress would boost pay permanently, though a potential government shutdown on October 1 could delay it.
Forest Service Deputy Chief for Business Operations Antoine Dixon emailed the statement it sent out to firefighters to KUNM.
Over the weekend I became aware that many employees in wildland firefighting positions received notifications from our electronic personnel management system reflecting a significant increase in total annual salary. I am writing directly to all employees, including those affected, to inform you that this notification was an error.
We are currently making upgrades to the pay delivery system and these notifications occurred unintentionally as part of those upgrades. We are working to correct the issue. I am confident that all payments issued for work between August 13 – 26, 2023, were correct. However, if any employee has questions, please review the earnings and leave statement or call Human Resources Management.
I apologize for the confusion this has caused. This error is not related to our ongoing effort toward a permanent pay fix for wildland firefighters considering the upcoming expiration of the temporary pay supplement. Secretary Vilsack, Under Secretary Wilkes, Chief Moore and others continue to work diligently in service to that effort. A special thank you to employees who continue to make sacrifices to protect communities while facing uncertainty in the expiration of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law pay supplements.