Five-Year Agreement Reached for Burlington Firefighters

Please see the media release below from the City of Burlington.Burlington, Ont. — July 16, 2019 — A five-year agreement has been reached with the City of Burlington and Burlington Professional Firefighters Association at City Council Monday, July 15, 2019. The freely negotiated agreement provides an average monetary increase of 1.75% per year over five years and includes benefit improvements that are in line with comparable municipalities.   Some negotiated benefits and wage savings are included in the agreement to help offset the cost of benefit improvements.

"We are very pleased that we were able to freely negotiate the contract without having to resort to the arbitration system. The talks were professional, respectful and thorough and that speaks to the positive labour relations that exists in the department. It is comparable to settlements in other municipalities, so I think the deal is fair and reasonable for both firefighters and rate payers. With the contract running until Dec. 31, 2022, it also provides us with budgeting certainty through the term of this Council." — David Lazenby, Burlington Fire Chief

There are 197 Burlington Fire Department employees under this collective agreement who are represented by IAFF 1552.  The last agreement expired on December 31, 2017 and this new five-year agreement is effective January 1, 2018 through to December 31, 2022.The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 1.9% in Ontario as of April 2019, making these increases below the CPI increase.About the Burlington Fire Department The Burlington Fire Department offers a wide range of public safety programs and services to support the Burlington community. Serving more than 170,000 customers in a combined urban and rural area, the fire department provides emergency response, fire prevention services including public education programs, inspections and enforcement.  Services include fire prevention inspection and enforcement, public education, emergency response, communication (dispatch), emergency preparedness and open air burn permits along with a variety of fire prevention and life safety education programs.MY TAKE:I'm very pleased the City of Burlington and the Burlington Professional Firefighters Association were able to reach a 5-year settlement that is fair to all parties and our taxpayers. This was the first time in 20 years that there was unanimous council support and the first time in recent memory there was a willingly negotiated settlement versus a costly, time-consuming and drawn-out arbitration process. Every side gave a little bit to reach an agreement. Well done to everyone involved.