Georgina firefighters move to 24-hour shift schedule, receive 11.8% pay hike

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 1, 2016
By Heidi Riedner

Georgina’s full-time firefighters will move to 24-hour shifts and receive an almost 12-per-cent pay hike over four years after minutes of settlement were inked between the town and the Georgina Professional Fire Fighters Association last week.

The confidential report, ratified by council Aug. 24, will see Georgina’s firefighters receive pay increases under the collective agreement covering 2013 to 2016 of 3.8 per cent for 2013, 2.35 per cent in 2014, 2.65 for 2015 and 2.5 per cent this year, totalling an end rate of 11.84 per cent over four years.

A first-class firefighter now earns $95,360.

Achieving wage parity and a four-year trial of the 24-hour shift schedule beginning in January 2017 for Georgina’s 43-member full-time department were two key mandates for the union heading in to negotiations, said GPFFA president Tim MacRae, who added meaningful bargaining on behalf of both parties demonstrated a commitment on both sides of the table to reach a fair and equitable agreement since first meeting in June.

The pay hike and 24-hour shift schedule bring Georgina’s firefighters on par with most of the other departments in the region, MacRae said, adding the rationale behind the benefits of extended shifts includes them being easier to recover from, which saves taxpayers money by reducing sick days and overtime. It also allows for additional time for training and community education programs.

“It’s been a long process for us, dating back to 1997,” he said.

It also included going to arbitration for the first time the last go around in 2013, which handed out a 12-per-cent pay hike over three years to Georgina’s full-time firefighters, who had been working without an updated collective agreement since 2010.

Similarly now, firefighters have been working without a contract for the past four years.

That means the town owes its firefighters retroactive payouts once the new collective agreement is officially formalized.

The total tab for retroactive payouts is still being determined, Maria Evans of the town’s communication department said Wednesday. During budget deliberations last November, town treasurer Rebecca Mathewson said almost $1 million has been set aside for outcomes of both GPFFA and CUPE contract negotiations, with likely half of that going to the town’s firefighters.

Although not part of the collective agreement, Georgina’s volunteer firefighters will receive the same percentage increases.

Earlier this month, the town inked a new contract with CUPE Local 905 for its 130 unionized municipal staff, which received a total pay increase of 6.5 per cent over four years - 1.75 per cent as of April 2015, 1.5 per cent in 2016, 1.5 per cent in 2017 and 1.75 per cent in 2018.