Volunteer firefighters say they have walked away from the bargaining table a day after Greater Sudbury released some details of a plan that would overhaul the city's fire services.
The plan would greatly reduce the number of volunteer firefighters in the city, and would increase the number of career firefighters by 58. Currently, there are 108, while the volunteer force is supposed to be 350, although the city hasn't been able to recruit the full complement.
The plan would also reduce the number of fire stations from 24 to 15, and would cost about $6 million more a year, compared to about $4 million if the status quo is maintained.
While the plan aims to significantly boost response times across Greater Sudbury, the proposal has disrupted contract talks. The volunteers, who earn an annual stipend that averages around $3,200, are represented by the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC).
In a release, the union said the optimization proposal has made talks “impossible.”
“The volunteers, represented by CLAC Local 920, issued a letter to Chief (Trevor) Bain on Feb. 24 that outlined their reasons for withdrawing from the talks,” CLAC said in a news release. “They cite grave concerns with the proposed fire and paramedic services optimization plan, which is due to be presented to city council on March 22, 2017.”
“Due to the drastic changes proposed, it is impossible to continue to deliberate with the city until the future of the department is made more certain,” Gord O’Coin, CLAC Local 920 representative, is quoted as saying in the release.
“The staffing proposal defies logic ... It represents a departure from every other municipality in the province that benefits from the service of volunteers.”
O'Coin said in an email that he wouldn't be available for an interview on the union's decision until Monday.
But the release said the city “has misdiagnosed the cause and solution to areas of concern within the current system, and that the proposed changes are not sustainable.
“Local 920 has reported that the number of volunteers serving Sudbury has been in decline in recent years. Although the city continues to tell the public that there are 350 volunteers, CLAC has shown that the number is actually only 265.”
But Kevin Fowke, the city's GM of corporate services, said Friday that describing the union's decision as walking away from the table as more “dramatic” than he would express it.
With so many changes proposed in the optimization plan, Fowke said it was only logical to delay negotiations until both sides have a better idea how much – if any – of the plan will be approved by city council.
"We've had three good full days of negotiations with the association's team,” he said. “We knew after sharing some of our proposals and talking with them a bit about optimization and the objectives, that it would make perfect sense for them for both sides to wait for council to consider the matter."
With the optimization plan headed to council March 28, they are currently looking at early April to get back to the table.
"So I wouldn't have referred to it as a suspension of negotiations," Fowke said. "It wasn't that they stormed out, or that we suspended negotiations somehow. It just behooves both parties to wait until some of those question marks are a little more certain so we know exactly what we're talking about."
Public meetings are planned beginning next week to give residents an overview of the plan.
The meetings will be held:
Feb. 27 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Kinsmen Hall, 15 Kin Dr., Lively (located inside the Library)
March 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Colonial Inn, 28 Cedar St., Coniston
March 6 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Dowling Leisure Centre 79 Main St. West, Dowling
March 8 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Centennial Community Centre/Arena 4333 Centennial Dr., Hanmer
March 9 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Falconbridge Community Centre 63 Edison Rd., Falconbridge
The sessions will include a presentation by Trevor Bain, chief of fire and paramedic services and GM of community safety, beginning at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a Q&A session. Staff will be available before and after the presentation to answer questions.
For more information on Fire and Paramedic Services Optimization, visit www.greatersudbury.ca/optimization.
