Comments made by coun. Robert Tuchenhagen calling the city’s firefighters "spoiled" are his own opinion and are not shared by the rest of council says coun. Aldo Ruberto.
Ruberto said he was surprised and a little disappointed to hear Tuchenhagen make the remarks about the fire fighters’ six-and-a-half-year contract dispute with the city and is upset by the way members of the public have interpreted Tuchenhagen’s comments. The mayor and council support firefighters completely and respect the dangerous job they have risking their lives everyday said Ruberto.
"They have a very very important job and I just want to say that I certainly and I know a lot of other councillors and the mayor support fire fighters 100 per cent," Ruberto said.
Ruberto said everyone involved wants the matter resolved as quickly as possible.
"We’re just as frustrated as a council as I’m sure the firefighers are we want to see this resolved we want to see everything get back on track we want the morale to be high," Ruberto said. "I hope a decision comes down very very soon."
With the possibility of million of dollars on the line once the arbitration process is complete, Ruberto said money for a settlement with firefighters is already set aside and would not result in increased taxes although he would not discuss specifics.
"We’ve already allocated a certain amount of funds for that. We’re prepared as a city to settle things and not burn the taxpayer more than they have to be," said Ruberto.
The city and its firefighters have been in arbitration since a collective agreement expired at the end of 2003. Thunder Bay Professional Firefighters’ Association president Eric Nordlund said the main issue is salaries and that firefighters want to be paid the same rate as city police officers.
