Skip to content

Firefighters agree to two-year deal

After nearly a year of negotiations, a new two-year agreement has been reached between the City of St. Albert and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF).

After nearly a year of negotiations, a new two-year agreement has been reached between the City of St. Albert and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF).

The new agreement calls for nearly a 14 per cent wage increase over two years after it was found St. Albert firefighters were among the lowest paid in the province.

The new agreement gives firefighters a general wage increase of 7.0 per cent in 2009 and 6.7 per cent in 2010, bringing salaries closer to the mid-range of a comparison group of nine other Alberta municipalities.

“It’s going to address any attraction or retention issues we might have,” said director of human resources, Doug Gairns, who noted much of the agreement had to do with wording changes and clarifications.

“Hopefully this makes the collective agreement easier to understand and administer.”

In addition to the wage increases, resolutions were also reached on aspects of training and promotion, along with the system for uniforms and clothing.

The department had been struggling to find enough funding to cover the necessary training to bring firefighters up to labour standards, but now that problem has also been rectified, said Scott Wilde, president of the local IAFF.

Another milestone, said Wilde, is the wording of promotions, which now provides more clarity on what’s needed for a member to move up to an officer of another division.

“Our contract just needed to be organized somewhat and revamped. It’s been a long time since we really spent any time getting it up to date, said Wilde, who is very pleased with the overall agreement.

“It’s very on with where we were aiming. We worked together to ensure that everyone’s paid accordingly.”

The collective agreement was ratified on Jan. 13 after 12 days of formal negotiation between the city and IAFF. The negotiation process began last February.

Funding for the raises was included in the city’s 2010 operating budget.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks