Waterloo firefighters receive 8.7 per cent raise over three years

A deal has been reached between the City of Waterloo and its firefighters.

They have been negotiating since 2011, and when a deal couldn’t be reached they went into arbitrations.

An arbitrator has awarded the firefighters an 8.65 per cent wage increase from 2012 to 2014. That is in addition to an 11 per cent increase they received a few years ago.

First class firefighters in Waterloo will make about $90,000 a year.

“We’re on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We can normally respond to most emergencies within 4 minutes. So I think for the bang for the buck, I think the taxpayers of Waterloo are getting a good value for what they have” said Dean Good, president of the Waterloo Firefighters Association.

The wage increase puts Waterloo firefighters salaries on par with Cambridge and Guelph firefighters. They will also make as much as first class police constables in Waterloo.

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  Firefighters work at the scene of a fire at the University of Waterloo on Thursday, July 14, 2011.