The Board of Arbitration released its award regarding the renewal of the collective agreement between the City of Sarnia and the Sarnia Professional Firefighters Association. The previous contract expired December 31, 2016 and negotiations between the parties failed to reach a settlement. Brief highlights of the award are:
• Three (3) year agreement covering the period January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2019
• Salary increases of 1.5% in each of the 3 years
• A new pregnancy/parental leave provision
• Benefit enhancements in a number of areas with reductions in others
In anticipation of the award the City has allocated salary increases in the budget for the past 3 years to cover the retroactive wage increases.
The City of Sarnia employs 123 Firefighters who provide public fire & life safety education, fire inspections and enforcement, and emergency response from 5 fire stations across 168 square kilometres consisting of urban, suburban and rural areas.