Money isnt everything but it is connected to everything.
In the WHP dispatch center we have dispatchers in all stages of life. We have baby dispatchers fresh out of highschool, barely legal to drink, dispatchers starting families, already raising kids, dispatchers with no kids, ones who have grandkids and dispatchers ready to retire. One thing we can all agree on is that we are under compensated. It is not a mismanagement of money as it affects all of us across the board, whether we have kids or not, whether we are married or not.
I spoke to my brothers and sisters in dispatch to ask how our compensation has effected them, not being up with cost of living and one thing we can agree on is we are not THRIVING we are SURVIING. Here is a list of answers i rec’d from my fellow dispatchers when i asked how our compensation effected them.
“If OT gets taken away, i cant afford to pay bills, cant save money, cant live. When cost of living is lower than neccessities we become dependant on OT to make ends meet. “
“We are living pay check to pay check. “
“Affecting health decisions medical appoointments diet restrictions, cant afford to get treatment. “
Several dispatchers couldnt support self after divorce had to move in with parents
We have single dispatchers living with family members becasuse they cant support themselves.
“If anything major happens we are screwed. we have no savings, we dont make enough to save. “
Most of us have had or have part time jobs, started businesses, or sell home goods on facebook market place.
“I have had to use the food bank or take advantage of free meals to be able to feed my children”
I have filed bankrupcy, gone to collections or was garnished because i just couldnt pay what I owe.
” expenses going up but pay isnt. hard to keep up.”
My story:
I have been with WHP dispatch for over 10 years. When I first started with WHP the pay was competitive in the field, this helped me then, with my family starting out with one kid at the time. As the years went by the gap between cost of living and what we were getting compensated grew.
Over the years with my two kids I have had to go to the food bank to get food for my kids to make sure they had enough to eat. I have had to eat at my families houses here and there, to cover a meal, from my pay being short. There had been times where i couldn’t pay my medical bills and was sent to collection because i had to choose between paying utilities or paying my medical bill. I have had to juggle paying bills to be able to pay them.
I do not have credit cards, I do not have a new vehicle. I do not wear designer clothes, in fact 95 % percent of my clothing is from goodwill or second hand. My kids do not wear name brand clothing. I do not have a yacht, or luxury items. I have my living expenses and my families medical bills and I barely SURVIVE.
I have had to sacrifice a lot over the years to make sure my family was taken care of first. I am supposed to be on a strict paleo diet, and see doctors regularly for my crohn’s disease. Due to my pay not being up to cost of living, and the rising cost of medical bills, and food I have had to cut back my personal care such as appointments and the special paleo diet food because I cant afford to go to the appointments and I cant afford to buy the special food. If I could, I may still have colon.
I love my job and I love helping people. It is my calling and my passion, but I am only SURVIVING, not THRIVING.
A WHP Dispatcher