With members working under a collective agreement that expired at the end of 2024 and no deal in sight, London, ON Local 142 appeared headed for a costly and difficult interest arbitration.
Instead, the union is now celebrating a freely negotiated two-year contract and looking ahead to the next round of bargaining thanks to strategic advice from the IAFF, a well-timed media relations campaign and the backdrop of a fall municipal election.
Members ratified the agreement in July with 97%. It brings first-class fire fighter wages from $109,802 to $123,650, ranking fourth among municipal IAFF locals in Ontario. Other gains include moving communications operators from 94% to 100% of the first-class wage, establishing a straight seniority system for district chief promotions, increasing maternity and paternity leave benefits and correcting benefit calculations for ill or injured workers.
One outstanding issue remains before an arbitrator. The city maintains that it should not be required to provide the line-of-duty death benefit, equal to three times a member’s salary and applicable to all line-of-duty deaths including those from occupational disease, if the member has retired or is no longer an active employee.
While the agreement is welcome, the Local will have little time to catch its breath before the deal expires at the end of 2026. The union and the city are expected to exchange proposals in October, and return to the bargaining table in early 2027.
Local 142 President Jason Timlick said that working under an expired agreement for 16 months placed a strain on members, but the Local secured a strong contract while sparing the union and taxpayers the expense of interest arbitration.
Interest arbitration appeared likely until the Local received strategic advice from the IAFF, which led to a media relations initiative that quickly caught Mayor Josh Morgan’s attention.
“He stepped in and the parties got back to the table. It got us back talking and he was the driver behind that, and it ultimately led to the negotiated deal,” Timlick said. “What I appreciated, and the Mayor echoed my comments, is that we wanted a made-in-London deal and not a third-party decision. We were definitely on the same page with that, and he helped the civic administration realize the same.”
We’re very hopeful that coming off a freely negotiated deal, we’ll roll into another productive round of negotiations, without the huge cost of an interest arbitration to the association and taxpayers.
London on local 142 president jason timlick
With the 2025-2026 contract now ratified, Timlick said he hopes the goodwill will carry into the next round of negotiations. “We’re very hopeful that coming off a freely negotiated deal, we’ll roll into another productive round of negotiations, without the huge cost of an interest arbitration to the association and taxpayers,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to the next round of bargaining, especially if those who support us continue to stand behind us within the municipality of London.”
