CPerhaps nothing in 2014 in Yorkton has put people on two sides of an issue any more resolutely than the arbitrated contract awarded to the city’s firefighters.
The arbitrated deal gave firefighters six per cent for 2013, another six in 2014, and this year they will see wages rise 6.1 per cent, a year they will also head back to the negotiation table to try to get a contract for 2016-18.
So is the deal reasonable?
Well that takes a lot of analysis before taking a position.
There is the firefighter position that suggests a firefighter in Yorkton does essentially the same job as one in Brandon, Red Deer or for that matter Saskatoon or Calgary, so they should all be paid the same.
That is indeed an idyllic vision, and on the surface has some level of merit.
But are the jobs the same. Would you fight as many fires in dangerous meth labs in Yorkton as you do in Calgary?
And does the theory of equal pay extend. As an example does a waitress make the same wages? Or a cab driver? Or a mechanic?
Then there is the flip side of the coin.
The reality is that people living in different cities should not expect equal wages because they do not face equal costs of living.
The costs of food in restaurants are not the same in Red Deer as Yorkton.
The cost of housing do not exactly mirror between Yorkton and Fort McMurray, or Lethbridge, or Brandon.
Nor are municipal taxes equal, nor for that matter the services provided.
Then from a community point-of-view the question has to be asked how much are we willing to pay for fire services?
With the 18.1 per cent wage increase in the new deal, wages in our city will be $1.9 million annually for the 16-man force. Then there are the costs of Fire Chief and deputies, clerical, building maintenance and equipment.
The cost of fire services are now among the top two, or three overall budget costs faced by the City.
Is that reasonable?
Or more importantly, is it sustainable moving forward?
The current deal equates to about a 2.5 per cent tax increase to cover, and that is an area where the City is already adding about five per cent a year to meet growth and infrastructure needs.
Can taxpayers absorb a 7.5 per cent tax increase in 2016?
It must also be recognized that it is highly likely the firefighters and the City will be back before an arbitration tribunal before the next contract is hammered out.
Arbitration panels are largely creatures of habit. They follow precedent, rarely being bold enough to venture outside the lines to establish a new precedent themselves. That has meant arbitrators have generally ruled on the side of firefighters through the years. With that in mind, firefighters are going to naturally be drawn to leaving the fate of their wages in the hands of arbitrators.
So wages will continue to climb, and in so taking a bigger bite from municipal coffers.
Of course the question becomes what alternatives a municipality has in this situation?
It is a question Yorkton Council asked Administration to look into at the Dec. 15 meeting of Council, and it is something most municipalities have to be contemplating as firefighter costs are increasingly high for everyone.
The obvious options are a smaller force supported far more by volunteers, or a completely volunteer force.
There are pros and cons to either option, but we are also seeing the cons of a full-time professional force in terms of tax drain.
There are also more unconventional options, such as rationalizing municipal taxes to pay for the force and infrastructure, but when a fire truck rolls, whoever they are there to help are handed a bill for services, with the expectation that person has insurance to cover such costs.
While not highly palatable, the costs of the fire service will eventually force municipalities to investigate every option to offset those costs.
It comes down to appreciating while our firefighters are highly trained, and do their job professionally for residents, they may be coming to the point they price themselves out of a job.
