And the real kicker is most cities allocate funds to emergency services. Guess who’s wages within emergency services continue to go up while EMTs wage stagnate? :) In my city, the starting wage for cops are $30/hr while the starting wage for EMTs here is about half of that. My guess is cops being unionized is the major reason why.

This person's comment acts on the idea that baristas want pity - not respect and fairness, and it also seems to operate on the idea that there is a need for those not getting enough pay to compete with each other about who deserves more respect/fair treatment. Personally, I think both probably deserve it. And I think the questions you asked about their comment are spot on.