The City of Waterloo says its firefighters shouldn’t see bigger raises than other city employees.
The Waterloo Professional Firefighters Association says Waterloo firefighters shouldn’t see smaller raises than firefighters in other local departments.
And with the two unable to reconcile those facts, collective bargaining has now begun an arbitration process.
“It’s disappointing that we have to move to arbitration,” says firefighters association president Dean Good.
Until the most recent contract ended in 2011, Waterloo firefighters received wage increases at the same level of their Kitchener counterparts and Waterloo Regional Police.
On that basis, the union is asking for a 2.9 per cent raise.
“I would like to believe that the residents of the City of Waterloo would like their firefighters compensated as well as firefighters in other municipalities,” Good tells CTV News.
City officials say they don’t see why firefighters need a higher increase than other unionized city employees saw – less than two per cent.
“We’re looking at not just what the police are getting, not just what maybe another fire department is getting, but looking at what other communities are offering all their employees,” says fire chief Lyle Quan.
“We need to get the best deal that we can that’s fair and equitable to everybody.”
The next arbitration date isn’t expected until later this year.
