London firefighters get pay parity with police

LONDON The seven-year contract tussle with firefighters may finally be over but the financial headache for the city is not.

City councillors threw up their hands Friday and gave firefighters what they wanted all along — continued parity with police officers.

Although the vote was unanimous, some councillors warn the current system is “unsustainable” for taxpayers.

“It’s not a great situation, and I expect a large part of the public to be upset about it, as I am,” said Ward 6 Coun. Phil Squire, known as a financial watchdog on council.

City council voted unanimously Friday at a special meeting to ratify the new contract that runs from Jan. 1, 2011, to 2019. The deal gives firefighters average annual increases of 2.4 per cent.

The annual pay for a first-class firefighter will jump next month to $93,734 from $85,503.

The deal was ratified by 91 per cent of the members of the London Professional Fire Fighters Association.

City officials have not said how much retroactive pay firefighters will receive for increases since 2011.

Ward 4 Coun. Jesse Helmer said the city can’t afford to give large annual salary increases to employees making six figures.

“We can’t keep giving people making $100,000 a year three per cent annual increases. Those days are behind us.”

There has been some progress with the firefighter contract and the most recent police contract providing for smaller salary increases than in past years, Helmer said.

Squire said all municipalities face a “systemic problem” with the current arbitration process for police and firefighters.

Both Squire and Helmer say the deck is so stacked against municipalities, London council got the best deal possible with firefighters.

Squire said London could have fared even worse, noting Guelph firefighters recently won a contract giving them higher salaries than police.

“As strange as it is, we did well to get parity.”

Squire also noted it should not have taken seven years to get a deal.

The contract process was the longest in Canadian history for a municipal fire department.

Squire said the recent shakeup at city hall with Martin Hayward taking over from Art Zuidema as city manager and Jason Timlick taking over as head of the London Professional Fire Fighters Association helped break the deadlock.

The debate over whether firefighters should be paid as much as police is “moot” because arbitrators are giving significant increases to both groups, Squire said.

But he said police and firefighters salaries are eating up a larger part of municipal budgets and there is “no end in sight.”

The only solution is for the provincial government to overhaul the arbitration system to recognize the burden on municipalities, Squire said.

Helmer said the arbitration process is slow, expensive and cumbersome.

Over the last seven years, he said there were only 40 days of actual arbitration in settling the firefighters’ contract.

Getting a local deal is much better than arbitration, Helmer continued.

“There are a lot advantages to a freely negotiated agreement instead of going immediately to arbitration.”

We can’t keep giving people making $100,000 a year three per cent annual increases. Those days are behind us.