Fire union disputes comments by former CAO

The vice-president of the Sudbury Professional Firefighters Association is taking issue with comments by former interim CAO Bob Johnston regarding a spike in overtime and other costs in the department.

In an interview this week with Northern Life, Johnston said since firefighters went to a 24-hour work schedule in 2013, there has been an increase of 110 per cent in overtime hours, 132 per cent in overtime costs (estimated at $800,000 this year), a 40 per cent increase in sick leave, the number of grievances filed has increased from seven to 21 and workplace incidents have increased by 73 per cent.

"(It) was a situation I really could not believe how deep rooted some problems were on all levels,” Johnston said. “On the level of cost, there was a high level of association-management disrespect, lack of trust. There just wasn't a good relationship there."

Not true, said Association VP Mark Muldoon. In an interview Friday, he said the numbers may look startling at first glance, but the reality is very different.

"I think when you look at the numbers, figures lie and liars figure,” he said.

For example, while overtime costs have increased, he said that's because of a delay in hiring eight new recruits, who were supposed to begin work in June but were delayed until November. That meant there was a shortage of people to fill the summer overtime backlog.

"So there were huge costs over the summer in overtime, as it relates to delays in hiring," he said.

"As far as the sick time. We have members off long-term -- whether it be injuries, whether it be work-related – and they're replaced by overtime. When someone is off for a year, it can dramatically skew the numbers all across the board."

Muldoon said he said he wouldn't comment on the specifics of grievances, because “we have respect for the people on the other side of the table.

"But in regards to grievances, the majority of those grievances have been amicably resolved."

When it comes to sick leave hours, he said it's the nature of the profession that members get hurt or sick. But those leaves are legitimate, he said, as evidenced by the fact the Association is part of an attendance management program. That's a system where someone who misses a certain amount of work days is enrolled to look for the reasons and look for ways to reduce absenteeism.

"To date, no one has been entered into the attendance management program,” Muldoon said. “It hasn't been utilized."

Muldoon also takes issue with talk about whether firefighters' 24-hour work schedule – where they work round-the-clock shifts eight days a month – is behind the increase in sick time. The move is popular with members, he said, while the public gets the same level of service.

"On the whole, our members like it,” he said. “It's a better work-life balance. I'm right here with my two-year-old as we speak. It allows me more time to spend with my children.

"This 24-hour shift hasn't seen a dramatic spike in overtime, like (Johnston's) making it out. We wouldn't attribute that to the 24-hour shift."

On the issue of workplace incidents increasing by 73 per cent, Muldoon said it's a total red herring. Provincial legislation related to certain cancers means firefighters should fill out forms after responding to a call. That way, if they get cancer later on, it's easier to determine whether it's related to their job.

“There are several cancers listed that as presumed to be workplace related as firefighters, due to our increased cancer (rates) across the population,” Muldoon said. "These aren't workplace accidents, these are exposure reports that we weren't doing in the past.

“Essentially, over the last few years we've done a much better job of filling out exposure reports -- being exposed to toxins at a fire. So this is just better management of our future in terms of if we were to get cancer down the road, there's a paper trail."

Trevor Bain, the city's chief of fire and paramedic services, said he was limited in what he could say, because the city and the Association are in bargaining and headed to interest arbitration, a process in which an arbitrator resolves any outstanding issues.

"Because we have dates for arbitration, there's a statutory freeze on discussing specifics,” Bain said Friday. “Some of that data is subject to some of the bargaining discussions.”

He did say, however, that despite the challenges, the fire department is only looking at a small deficit this year

"I can tell you the overall budget is forecast to have a very small deficit of about $50,000, overall, out of a $24 million budget,” he said. “So that's pretty good."

While overtime costs have increase this year, Bain was reluctant to say it was out of the ordinary.

"As you know, we're in the emergency services business, so we can't predict what type of overtime we may get as a result of calls," he said. "The current collective bargaining agreement requires us to maintain a minimum staffing for fire services and that's what we do. We can't simply not fill a seat on a truck."

He also disputes Johnston's contention there was a poor working relationship between the union and management. And a recent staff survey bears that out, Bain said.

"The fire services as a whole trended quite high in terms of morale and relationships with workers and management," he said. "We have a good working relationship with our members."

Muldoon said it's his opinion Johnston was motivated by “sour grapes” over losing his CAO position.

"It's pretty obvious,” he said. "We can say that since Mayor (Brian) Bigger came into office, he's had an open-door policy. Our dealings with him have been respectful, professional and open and honest. We support his decision, obviously. In the instances where we do disagree with the mayor, it's done professionally and respectfully."

In the future, Muldoon said it should be the fire chief who reports to council directly on matters related to the department, because they're better informed about the issues they're facing.

“That's not currently the case,” he said. “I think it speaks to Mr. Johnston's comments, it indicates that when non-experts think they're experts about the fire service, it doesn't do the public any good."