Old Zhou’s mind, at the level of a full regint, was filled with thoughts.
Contract-based firefighters, although not yet widely applied, are a significant subject.
Six years had passed.
In recent years, as the era has developed, firefighting capabilities have increasingly shown to be lacking.
This issue is beyond dispute, with a county-level region often relying on a single fire brigade, a dozen or twenty-odd people, to maintain the fire safety of hundreds of thousands of residents.
Qu Jing has a Luoping Brigade, with 13 officers and soldiers, serving a population of 600,000.
This ratio is shocking to behold.
Although there are many local fire stations as supplents, they cannot be considered professional firefighting forces.
Many solutions had been considered.
Training elite troops, reinforcent systems, fire inspections, safety propaganda.
Yet it was not possible to expand recruitnt.
The reasons were nurous.
Military expenditure, staffing, local finance, the pace of social developnt.
Any characteristic of a large country is like pulling one hair and moving the whole body, and the decisions are often a reluctant compromise on one or a few important constraints after weighing the pros and cons.
In the fifties, we were learning from the Soviet Union, in the eighties, we were learning from the West.
Regarding firefighting, the higher-ups have also started using Western market economics to solve problems.
Of course, introducing firefighting into the free market is not feasible; national conditions do not allow it. If it were so, firefighting would beco the second high-cost living safeguard after healthcare, leaving a large number of poor people unable to protect their health or their property.
But it is possible to introduce Western socialized firefighting.
Recruiting local firefighters as a supplent to the regular forces, the rise in data supporting the large number of casualties, property damage, and increased accidents has given rise to contract-based firefighters.
Many say this is the future direction of firefighting developnt.
In the reference book "Firefighting Handbook" recomnded by the General Office before, this issue was ntioned, and it has also been brought up several tis in video conferences by the General Office.
But he did not look favorably upon the contract system valued by the higher-ups; in his eyes, its political significance far outweighed its practical aning.
However, political significance... is also very important.
Fang Huai couldn’t claim to have seen through Chief of Staff Zhou’s thoughts at a glance, but he had anticipated them long ago.
"Chief of Staff, I know what you’re thinking. You think this kid is up to so trick again, right? Is he going to start another pilot project, a performance project?"
As soon as Fang Huai finished speaking, Old Zhou suddenly laughed.
But he quickly put on a stern face again.
"Don’t make wild guesses! The contract system for firefighters has long been a major pilot project for us. The superiors take it very seriously; it’s not your turn to test it. Speak your point."
Fang Huai then spoke with a light smile,
"This matter, of course, takes into account the actual situation of our squadron being short-staffed. Besides, I also wanted to set a correct example for the national firefighting effort."
At this, Chief of Staff Zhou simply shook his head, "There’s no need to ntion the staffing shortage. The contract system for firefighters is for regions and squadrons suffering from a lack of police forces to recruit as a priority. You are not part of this list. As for the correct example you ntioned, I want to hear it."
At this ti, Old Zhou’s attitude clearly showed an approach of "I’ll take the sugar coating, but not the bullet."
He wanted to hear the thod because, based on the current pilot project of Fang Huai’s squadron, this kid was a treasure trove.
If his words made sense, it might beco the reason for the whole detachnt.
But the issue of recruitnt was a separate matter.
However, Fang Huai was not ready to give up and argued,
"Chief of Staff, our police force is insufficient too! Our squadron has a large staff, but how large is the range we cover for police dispatches? According to the pilot plan, we are responsible for dispatching without geographical restrictions in case of major disasters. To put it plainly, not just the provincial governnt, but anywhere else, as long as the fire brigade thinks it’s necessary, our squadron has to go!
This is the practical significance of completing two pilot squadrons, which you can’t deny, can you?
Not to bring up distant matters, just yesterday we ca back from an ergency in Southwest Guizhou! We didn’t disgrace the detachnt, did we?
How many police forces are enough for our squadron that dispatches across such a vast area?"
Speaking of this matter, Old Zhou’s expression beca a bit more relaxed; the Second Squadron’s ergency yesterday was well-handled, successfully resolved, and efficient, leaving the Fire Brigade Headquarters very satisfied.
Thus, he gestured,
"Whether it’s in line with regulations, let’s talk about that later; finish what you were saying."
He indicated he wanted to hear more.
Fang Huai then spoke confidently, "Chief of Staff, I wouldn’t ask for more people without reason. Recently, I’ve been looking up a lot of status surveys on contract-based firefighters on the internal network.
The Wuhan Brigade started recruiting contract-based firefighters at the beginning of this year and implented mixed staffing in the Xu Donglu Squadron and Moshuihu Squadron as pilots.
Among them, the Xu Donglu Squadron had five cadres, seventeen soldiers, and twelve contract mbers, operating well.
But, a few issues were identified.
Firstly, recruitnt is difficult.
In the survey for the twelve contract firefighters, seven joined thinking they had found a decent job with good pay, four were older and couldn’t find jobs or were pressured by their families to apply, and only one joined out of a love for the barracks and dedication to firefighting.
The motive is problematic from the start, followed by their feelings after joining the team, none were satisfied with the actual pay, six thought it was average, and six thought it was low.
Moreover, the current recruitnt, in principle, follows the "Shandong Public Security Fire Brigade’s Contract-Based Firefighter Managent thod (Trial) [J] 2003," but in reality, principles are ant to be broken.
Second, retaining personnel is difficult.
This is first reflected in the reasons for joining: so co to train, so to transition, and even so out of curiosity, thinking firefighting is like the military where they get to shoot guns. They co in wanting to be temporary workers; with that mindset, how can we retain them?
Furthermore, it’s easy to join this door, and equally easy to leave.
When the treatnt is low, recruitnt requirents are lowered, and many who join are the ones who slipped through nine years of mandatory education, with weaker physical strength, or even those who are rejected from construction sites for being unfit for heavy labor. Just about anyone is sent in.
The local squadrons struggle to finally cultivate so capable individuals, and then they leave. The contract system is like a re formality, unenforced.
As a result, this creates a third problem: difficulty in utilizing personnel.
Capability is a problem, and so is attitude."
After listening, Chief of Staff Zhou slowly nodded.
"Hmm, your analysis is quite systematic. However, a pilot project is about finding a feasible path with low cost and limited guarantees, just like your squadron’s pilot project. You can’t have everything you want."
This statent addressed both the issues at hand and served as a reminder to him.
But Fang Huai shook his head repeatedly.
"This issue should not be terd as a pilot project. It is the only way and an obligatory path to expand firefighting police forces, and its feasibility doesn’t require testing. What we should consider, is how to perfect it.
Firstly, treatnt is an issue that must be resolved, which is the root cause of the three problems I’ve ntioned before.
Lack of economic benefit guarantees will lead to horizontal comparison. If people see ’equal work, unequal pay,’ discontent will spread. How can we ensure the stability of the team?
Political benefit guarantees are equally insufficient. Military support activities, Party mbership, and comnding excellence all exclude them; where then will morale co from?
Employnt guarantees are not ensured. According to the current trial policy in Shandong, if there is no re-employnt at 35 years old, what happens next? Is there a re-employnt opportunity?
For a contract system to be truly effective, these issues must be guaranteed!
So, based on these problems, regarding the recruitnt of contract firefighters in our squadron, here are my specific thoughts:
First, a salary of 2000 to 2500 yuan, which is close to the current treatnt for first and second level non-commissioned officers.
Second, there should be quotas for Party mbers to be comnded for excellence.
Third, there need to be promotion channels. We only need eight contract firefighters, but we should establish a contract sub-team, with one team leader and one deputy leader, whose treatnt should be higher than the others.
Fourth, capability subsidy. Those with comrcial driver’s licenses who can drive a fire truck, those with chef certifications of level 2 and above, those with computer-related qualifications, should receive a subsidy of 300-600 yuan.
Fifth, contracts should be signed every three years. If one wants to re-sign after a contract period, they must be promised employnt placent, and after three contract periods, that is nine years, the governnt should have certain placent asures.
These conditions might place a short-term strain on the detachnt, but we can negotiate with the governnt, right? Huaili Electric Company could initially take responsibility for the follow-up placent of these people and also establish a job security fund. If Huaili Electric goes bankrupt during the period, the fund could pay a one-ti placent fee.
With these conditions, the detachnt can conduct public recruitnt, with only one requirent: discharged soldiers with more than five years of service and at least three years of grassroots work experience. Only discharged soldiers can most quickly adapt to military discipline, ensure training and physical strength, and effectively participate in training.
Moreover, I don’t want to use the squadron as a pilot project but as a must-succeed model. Therefore, I want to be involved in the recruitnt interview process."
When Fang Huai finished speaking, he stared intently at the Chief of Staff.
The conditions he had laid out were actually not high.
It was mainly the follow-up guarantee that was a bit over the top.
Huaili Electric wouldn’t collapse, Fang Huai believed. Discharged soldiers, combined with the firefighters he had trained, were definitely worth recruiting.
The targeted recruitnt of discharged soldiers would not go wrong. Future firefighting is jokingly referred to as the "recycling station of the ard forces"; it’s not a joke. Those discharged soldiers are fierce in firefighting and are not inferior to national teams.
People like this, if they work in firefighting long enough, shouldn’t they share the sa retirent benefits as the regular firefighters?
Although it was mainly for the logistical support consideration of the Second Squadron, if sothing’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well.
In fact, besides these conditions, he had thought of much more.
But, things have to be done step by step.
He wanted to set an example for the future professional firefighting teams.
Old Zhou was a bit overwheld by his piercing eyes.
"How co when I ask you for solutions, it turns out you’re setting conditions for ?"
Fang Huai raised his eyebrows and spread his hands: "Because I’ve already solved the big issues, right? We can trial it for a while. If you all find it useful, we can then ask the governnt for security guarantees. The full-ti team setup already exists; it’s just a matter of asking the governnt for funding.
It’s just that the salary standard is a bit less than what I ntioned, and the detachnt is just paying a few hundred more in wages and subsidies per person.
If it forms an effective fighting force, this could at least be a successful demonstration for our detachnt.
Chief of Staff, I assure you, with these conditions in my hands, this batch of contract teams will definitely achieve results.
In the future, when discussing contract firefighters, perhaps our detachnt will also have to make reports and be hailed as a pioneer."
Tsk tsk.
Chief of Staff Zhou even began stroking his chin.
This young man... has the ability to sell his plan to the General Office, almost bewitching, isn’t he?
A contract system that even gets excited, what’s going on?
Fang Huai kept observing and noticed Old Zhou’s initial excitent and hesitation. He sighed slowly:
"This is the trend, Chief of Staff. Placing your bet on the Second Squadron... there couldn’t be a more suitable choice. When the Squadron achieves results, every decision made in the spotlight will be magnified."
His voice, as if it held magic, struck a chord in Old Zhou’s heart.
"Ahem, regarding this matter, I will discuss it seriously with the leadership after I return! Write down your thoughts and form a written proposal. However, this ti, let’s not report it up the chain! Whatever the detachnt can handle, we’ll solve it within the detachnt!"
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