Firefighter wage increase woes

Re: New wage settlement pushes most Kitchener firefighter salaries over $100K — July 4

The three-year contract between the City of Kitchener and its firefighters calls for a full-term 5.25 per cent wage increase, which assists in pushing a typical firefighter salary beyond $100,000, but that is not the key issue. The real key is the built-in, automatic retention provision, which creates a situation in which the majority of the city’s firefighters receive, without consideration of either merit or the requirements of negotiation, a guaranteed annual wage increase of between $3,000 and $8,500 — on top of the negotiated increase.

Do I really have to detail the lunacy of this? Do any of us need also to contemplate the sheer idiocy of guaranteeing something in the order of an extra $150 weekly — every single year — simply for being on the payroll? I think not.

It should not be necessary to say this, but given the tenor of our times, I will: I respect the job the firefighters do. I once played hockey with a bunch of Cambridge firefighters who are truly salt-of-the-earth people, people I would be honoured to work with 24/7/365.

I also respect this: These “guarantee” provisions were negotiated properly and fairly — and there isn’t a sentient adult employee on Earth who would look this gift horse in the mouth. For fault, I look no further than the politicians and civic administrators who appear to have zero awareness and zero knowledge of the power of monetary compounding.

Here’s the rule of 72: An annual, guaranteed increase of eight per cent will see a firefighter’s current $110,000 salary double to $220,00 within nine years. And firefighting already represents Kitchener’s largest, single annual expense.

Need I proceed further?

Al Coates

Cambridge