Pooling their resources

Wanting to be paid for their lunch hour and seeking a merit-based pay system, more than 20 Village of Atlantic Beach lifeguards addressed the village board at a meeting on July 11.

Anthony Runco Jr., a lifeguard for the past six years, said the village does not offer financial incentives or merit-based positions, and does not pay its lifeguards for their lunch hour.

The village received 100 lifeguard applications last year, Runco said, but this year there were only 38. “A lot of these guards don’t think it’s worth it,” he said, “so they go elsewhere to find a job.

“The meeting went very well,” Runco added. “The residents were supportive, and more lifeguards than we thought came to show their support.”

Atlantic Beach Mayor Stephen Mahler said that the village stopped paying lifeguards for their lunch hour a couple of years ago as part of a budget cut. “They knew the terms of their employment when they took the job,” he said. “We can’t change budgets in the middle of the season.”

A first-year village lifeguard earns $10.50 an hour, a third-year lifeguard receives $11 and a fifth-year lifeguard $12. According to Runco, because of the unpaid lunch hour, first-year guards actually earn $9.19 an hour, third-year guards $9.63 and fifth-year guards $10.50.

The village has not had a problem finding lifeguards, Mahler said, and due to smaller crowds on village beaches during the week, the competition for jobs isn’t as intense as it is in the Town of Hempstead. “The only problem we have is that many of them don’t finish the season because they go back to school in August,” he said. “Some years there are more applicants, but it depends on the economy.”

Town of Hempstead lifeguards are paid for lunch, said Director of Aquatics Mal McGarry, who oversees a staff of 585. And town guards can earn promotions, from rookie to regular lifeguard to senior lifeguard, and then become officers: lieutenant, senior lieutenant, captain, supervisor, assistant chief and chief.

In their first year, town lifeguards are paid $10 an hour if they work at a pool and $10.79 if they work on the ocean. In their third year, regular lifeguards earn $12.51 an hour, while senior guards are paid $13.67 and lieutenants, $14.25.