The most recent round of arbitration between the City of Owen Sound and our full-time firefighters has wrapped, with a 10.7% retroactive pay hike ordered for the three years that ended December 31, 2014.
Once again, this far outstrips cost of living increases or wage hikes in other public service positions.
First-class firefighters will now earn almost $90,000 a year. Here at OSCA, we don't begrudge anyone the right to make a living. The reality of the situation though is that it's untenable and we simply cannot afford to continue spending over $12 million per year on emergency services.
What's the Issue with Switching to Composite?
Can we just switch to a composite fire model, though?
It doesn't seem so – at least, not without legal wrangling and changes to the existing agreement between Owen Sound and its fire department.
You may recall that the local Chamber of Commerce has spent a great deal of time and energy looking into this issue. They've been trying to "change can't to can" and advocating for a composite model for quite a while. Last year, they sought a legal opinion from local lawyer Kelly L. Graham, which you can read in a Q&A style format here.
It was determined that "Neither the Council for the City of Owen Sound nor the management team of the City have very much autonomy to make unilateral and/or substantial changes to the staffing model used to deliver firefighting and emergency services."
The Town of Kapuskasing and their attempt to transition from a full-time model to a composite model was cited as an example of a municipality's inability to disband their full-time department. They tried to pass a by-law to end their contract with the Professional Fire Fighters Association so they could move to a volunteer model. Their action was grieved by the union and the town's attempt to disband was struck down in court.
Another interesting case to watch right now is that of Deep River, another small town trying to extricate themselves from the burden of ever-escalating fire fighter wage increases awarded in arbitration.
In short, the union would have to agree to Owen Sound changing its fire fighting staffing levels. If the union does not agree, the two parties go into arbitration and whatever decision is made is binding.
This is bigger than Owen Sound, though – the agreement negotiated by each local firefighters' union becomes part of the standard for future negotiations by other locals. The agreement reached in Kitchener will influence the decision in Windsor, which then influences the decision in North Bay, and so on.
What is a Composite Fire Department?
If the Owen Sound Professional Fire Fighters' Association were willing to negotiate a delivery model with less full-time firefighters, what might our composite department look like?
There seems to be a great fear that it would be a lesser service. However, response times and the level of service available depend on a lot of factors like geography, equipment and training available, etc.
A composite department still has full-time, paid staff – a Chief, fire prevention officer, training officer, etc. According to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, Ontario has 457 fire departments:
31 full-time
187 composite departments
239 volunteer departments
The different types of service available can be confusing, but we actually have a great example of a functioning composite department right here in the city, with the Intertownship Fire Department. If you've ever seen them heading out on a call, you might have noticed that the minute the call comes in, the doors open and the firefighters in the station start the trucks rolling.
What Might a Composite Service in Owen Sound Look Like?
I spoke with ITFD Captain Andy Redmond this week about how their composite service works, so we could share with you factual information about just what it is the Chamber of Commerce and others have been suggesting.
The ITFD composite department services four townships and has 41 members on their roster. Like other composite departments, they have a mix of full-time staff and firefighters who are paid per call.
Each day, the Chief and Deputy Chief are in the station from 6am-6pm. An officer and two drivers are on call to respond to the fire hall for apparatus from 6pm-6am. They cannot be more than 3 minutes from the fire hall, so if they live on the West side of town, they cannot go to the East side for groceries, for example. They have strict rules about not drinking alcohol while on call, as well.
With a volunteer fire department, you would see all members rush to the station when a call comes in, to get their equipment and start the trucks rolling. The ITFD composite department works a bit differently – the trucks are already loaded with each firefighter's gear and equipment.
When a call comes in during the day, the on-site firefighters have the trucks rolling in under one minute.
When a call comes in at night and there are no staff physically in the building, they are still required to be no further than three minutes from the station. They have the trucks rolling in under five minutes.
If it's a car accident or other emergency, only the firefighters in the affected township will respond. For a structure fire or other larger scale call, it's a "group call" – all 41 firefighters are expected to respond.
The firefighters respond to the location of the call, where the full-time or on-call firefighters have their gear and apparatus ready for them.
Remember, ITFD has challenges by way of the large physical area they cover, but this isn't a lesser service by any measure.
If we had a composite fire department in Owen Sound, using this model of paid, full-time supervisors and paid-per-call firefighters, there is no reason response times would increase or the service level would drop. Our city is not a vast amount of area to cover for on-call firefighters to reach a call, especially not if they're responding directly to the call location and their equipment is on the way.
Part of the justification for supporting the continuance of a full-time department in Owen Sound has been response times; last year, the former mayor assured us that the full-time department's average 3 a.m. response was four minutes.
Is there any reason that couldn't be achieved with two or three professional firefighters on-site to get the trucks rolling, with professional, on-call and paid-per-call firefighters heading straight to the call? 187 Ontario municipalities are already using this model – it's hardly a dangerous or substandard practice.
In fact, this model would seem to serve Owen Sound residents better than the existing one, which sees the on-duty firefighters respond. If you have five full-time firefighters on duty on a typical day, you're going to have five firefighters respond to a call, then call for additional help if needed.
With a composite service, all available members report to the call and are paid for that call. The response in Owen Sound could be a larger roster of suppression firefighters for structure fires and other major calls, without the expense of a full-time roster.
Owen Sound's full-time fire service seems a legacy we can no longer afford, nor justify with results that can't be obtained using the composite model.
When Is It the Right Time to Have This Conversation?
It is our hope that in this term, our Mayor and council can critically examine the issues preventing this transition, with the support of the community. The residents of Owen Sound need a better understanding of the different types of fire service delivery available and the issues keeping us trapped in the arbitration cycle. We all must work together to explore the options – and obstacles – facing our city in emergency services.
Yes, it's complicated. No, there's no easy answer.
However, as long as the city is in negotiations with the union, it seems our elected representatives are unable to discuss the possibility of a composite model with the public.
Will we ever catch up and reach a point where the firefighters' agreement is settled for a time before it expires, so the city can actually discuss an alternate model?
That seems to be the question.
Source - Owen Sound Community Association
