Union not needed for volunteer firefighters

BY JASON THOMPSON

Volunteer firefighter and Ward 7 Councillor Russ Thompson says he was shocked to find a leaflet in the mail from the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) saying the city has endorsed its initiative to unionize volunteer firefighters in Greater Sudbury.

Thompson, who is going on his 13th year as a volunteer firefighter, said the issue hasn’t been discussed at the council table.

“I wasn’t aware that this was happening. Maybe it’s a coincidence because I’m a councillor, maybe they don’t want me to know about it,” said Thompson, who volunteers at station 20 in Garson.

“Personally I don’t support it, I don’t think it’s needed.”

Thompson believes volunteer firefighters are some of the highest paid in the province and says they receive the same training as full-time firefighters.

"It was never intended to mean city council had given a formal nod," said Ian Dewaard, a regional director with the CLAC in Ottawa.

"There are those within council and there are those within the city who have acknowledged that in order for (the city) to deal effectively with volunteers, it's a lot easier to deal with them if they're operating as a collective."

Dewaard would not name who among city staff on around council has made those comments in support of CLAC activity.

The CLAC held a meeting Sunday Nov. 5, 2006 at an undisclosed location in Greater Sudbury.

Dewaard told Northern Life in November the meeting was kept a secret to keep city managers from attending and his organization was trying to get the word out to volunteers about the potential benefits of joining. The CLAC represents about 500 volunteer firefighters in Ontario.

"(Because they're volunteers), they typically fall to the bottom of the priority list when it comes to getting things they need done," Dewaard said.

"By negotiating with the city in a unionized form...they suddenly become equal players at the table and are then able to advance their interests and their concerns in a structured form."

Thompson said he doesn’t believe that it's an issue in most volunteer departments.

“I sit on both sides of the fence. As a councillor, we deal with these things at budget time and as a volunteer firefighter I’ve seen it.”

Thompson said since amalgamation, volunteers have received new bunker suits and new trucks, which replaced ones from the 1970s.

“In talking to a lot of the guys at our station, they’re not interested in it and they see it as a potential to cause problems.”