Your link doesn't address the issue directly.
It shows the average salaries for all life guards in a jurisdiction. That would include part time life guards, life guards at pools, life guards at private beaches (if any) in the city, or any other lifeguards not covered by the specific union in question, etc.
The video itself explains that most of the life guards at part time and/or seasonal, earning $16 to $22 per hour. 20 hours a week at 20 dollars an hour for 20 weeks out of the year would get you $8,000. If you have a bunch of $8k part time seasonal lifeguards, plus lifeguards not covered by this contract who may be full time (other beaches, pool guards etc.), then you could easily have an average (esp. if its median but even if the average in question is the arithmetic mean) total pay for all life guards in the city at $24,000, while still having the city paid, full time, union, beach guards earning over $100k a year. Esp. since the claim was about total compensation, not just wages/salary.
Of course the weakness for the evidence backing your argument against the claim, isn't actually an argument for the claim. All I had to go by is a Youtube video, and a blog post claiming this level of compensation, and the blog post seems to be relying on the video, so its not independent evidence.
So since the evidence was so thin, I looked for a little more. -
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Some OC Lifeguards Make Over $200k, Report Shows
NEWPORT BEACH (KTLA) -- If you want to make some big bucks, lifeguarding might be the profession for you.
In Newport Beach, more than half of the city's 14 full-time lifeguards make over $100,000 a year, the Orange County Register reports, citing a city report on lifeguard pay for 2010.
Add on benefits, the Register says, and their total compensation is over $150,000.
The city's budget report shows that the highest-paid lifeguard battalion chief earned an annual salary of $119,000, and total compensation of $187,782.
With the addition of overtime and "night-time standby pay," the chief took home about $211,000.
Newport Beach's second highest-paid lifeguard collected over $203,000, the budget shows.
Most other lifeguards had salaries in the range of $60,000 to $100,000, plus benefits of about $42,000 to $62,000.
The lifeguards also get an annual allowance of $400 for "Sun Protection," the Register reports...
ktla.com
Lifeguarding in OC is totally lucrative; some make over $200k
High pay and benefits for lifeguards in Newport Beach is the latest example of frustrating levels of compensation for public employees. More than half the city’s full-time lifeguards are paid a salary of over $100,000 and all but one of them collect more than $100,000 in total compensation including benefits.
When thinking about career options with high salaries, lifeguarding is probably not one of the first jobs to come to mind. But it apparently should. In one of Orange County’s most desirable beach destinations, Newport Beach, lifeguards are compensated all too well; especially compared with the county annual median household income of $71,735.
It might be time for a career change.
According to a city report on lifeguard pay for the calendar year 2010, of the 14 full-time lifeguards, 13 collected more than $120,000 in total compensation; one lifeguard collected $98,160.65. More than half the lifeguards collected more than $150,000 for 2010 with the two highest-paid collecting $211,451 and $203,481 in total compensation respectively. Even excluding benefits like health care and pension, more than half the lifeguards receive a total salary, including overtime pay, exceeding $100,000. And they also receive an annual allowance of $400 for “Sun Protection.” Many work four days a week, 10 hours a day...
orangepunch.ocregister.com
Union Defends 13 Calif. Lifeguards Making Over $120,000: ‘Very Fair & Very Reasonable’
theblaze.com
OK so its only a small number of people. (14 full time lifeguards, plus however many retirees get benefits from this contract), but the point raised was correct. |
