Ontario’s arbitration process is broken, says this city’s mayor.
The city is again negotiating a contract with Thunder Bay Fire Fighters Association through arbitration. The city is expected to start the process with the local firefighter’s union on Friday.
Firefighters have been without a contract for the past two years. The last contract negotiation took seven years.
The deal, which was reached in 2011, gave firefighters an average retroactive wage hike of nearly 3.8 per cent between 2004 and 2010.
The increase effectively placed firefighter salaries on par with city police.
Mayor Keith Hobbs called the whole process frustrating.
“Arbitration process in Ontario is broken and it needs to be fixed,” Hobbs said.
“It’s just very frustrating to hear that we’re going this long again. Arbitrators across the province have given parity to fire and police. It’s just a given now. I know that irritates the police because they think they have a more dangerous, busy job. Every ruling we hear police are tied to fire. Maybe they should bargain together. I don’t know what the answer is.”
He added that unions have done well to come to the table and negotiate, and that police and fire should look at doing the same.
At-Large Coun. Rebecca Johnson also had harsh criticism of the arbitration process, saying municipalities are finding it difficult to put aside the money necessary to deal with the high arbitration settlements.
Some of the increases range near three per cent. Johnson said municipalities don’t’ have the funds to cover that kind of an increase.
“I want to make it very clear that firefighters are very deserving of their pay,” she said. “At the same time, I think we have to look very seriously at the whole arbitration process particularly with the police and fire and emergency services. They got to the point of wanting to take their contracts settlements to arbitration instead of going through negotiations.”
Officials with the Thunder Bay Fire Fighters Association refused to comment on the issue when contacted by Dougall Media reporters.
