Members of Kamloops, BC Local 913 are welcoming a new collective agreement that not only improves wages, overtime and officer premiums, but also moves them to 24 hour-shifts and provides important advances in extended health benefits including mental health services.
The agreement, which was freely negotiated with the employer, covers Jan. 1, 2022 to Dec. 31, 2025 and provides wage increases of 3.5 percent, 4.5 percent, 4.5 percent and 5 percent over the term of the deal, while increasing the Lieutenant rate from 112 to 117 percent of the 10-year fire fighter rate and the Platoon Captain, Chief Training Officer and Chief Fire Prevention Officer rates from 127 to 132 percent of the 10-year fire fighter rate.
The local regained a 50-percent statutory holiday pay premium that had been lost in the 1990s, and the new contract converts relief shifts from straight time to overtime. The agreement includes a letter of understanding to reclassify Platoon Captains to Platoon Chiefs with further wage increases and also increases dispatcher salaries. All of the wage increases, including the officer premiums, are retroactive to the start of the agreement.
Kamloops Local 913 President Jeremy Brodtrick said his members are happy with the deal. He said while it took time to come to terms on the details, both sides worked hard to address each other’s concerns “and we’re pretty proud to have sat in the room and achieved the amount of progress that we did.”
Brodtrick says the local had been in a tough spot regarding members’ extended health benefits, with only a $1,000 package to cover services such as physiotherapy, chirotherapy, massage and counselling. The new agreement separates mental health counseling to a standalone $3,000 benefit which Brodtrick says “is huge for our members” and should hopefully encourage more of them to use the benefit if they are in need.
“To have a standalone benefit for those services is really important for our membership, it’s a first of its kind for us, it’s a really welcome change” he said, adding the package for remaining extended health benefits also increases from $1,000 to $3,000 by the end of 2025.
The 24-hour shifts will commence in Kamloops toward the end of the year. Brodtrick says there was demand from members for the model, which is becoming more widespread in western Canada. “We were really happy to make that happen.”
The 139 members of Kamloops Local 913 protect the BC southern interior city of 102,000 and their property in five full-time firehalls. In a media release, the City of Kamloops said that negotiations were respectful and that both sides were satisfied with the deal.
“The city and the IAFF will continue to work together to ensure Kamloops Fire Rescue can meet any future challenges and maintain its high quality of service regarding public safety.”
