After more than a year of bargaining, the Waterloo Regional Police Service and Waterloo Regional Police Association have come to terms on a new collective agreement for local police officers.
The two sides had been without a deal since December 2011 and the matter ultimately went to an arbitrator before a new contract was achieved.
The three-year agreement includes increases to wages, benefits and part-time staff.
Under the new agreement, a first-class constable will earn more than $90,000 per year, up from the previous maximum of $83,000.
Police board chair Tom Galloway says he’s not entirely happy about the wage increases, especially in the context of municipal budgets with little wiggle room, but the board must accept the arbitrator’s decision.
“The spiral continues,” he tells CTV.
“The arbitrators don’t seem to have the ability to look at current economic conditions and what else is happening in society in general.”
Galloway points to other sectors where wages have been frozen in recent years and says police and firefighter wages should come under the same scrutiny.
That opinion is not shared by Bruce Tucker, the president of the Waterloo Regional Police Association.
“We’re held accountable more than any other profession in the province, as we should be, and therefore the officers should be compensated to that level.”
Officers will receive retroactive 2.7 per cent wage increases for 2012, followed by another 2.7 per cent increase for 2013 and 2.95 per cent for 2014.
Despite the increases, Galloway says Waterloo Region’s last two budgets set aside money that should be able to accommodate the increase.
