Hicks Morley’s John Saunders was mentioned in the August 8, 2013 edition of The Globe and Mail in Margaret Wente’s article entitled, “A nation of $100,000 firefighters.” Highlighting municipal budgets’ contentions with fire departments, the article attributes firefighters’ high wages and substantive increases to arbitration settlements. Paraphrasing Saunders, “There’s no good reason for salaries to…
Tag: Fire
Mandatory Retirement Upheld for Suppression Fire Fighters: HRTO Clarifies Accommodation Obligations
In its recent decision, Corrigan v. Mississauga (City), the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (“HRTO”) considered whether a municipal employer had a positive obligation to consider requests for individual exceptions to the mandatory retirement policy of age 60 for suppression fire fighters and to work with those fire fighters to develop a medical fitness testing…
John Saunders Quoted in TheRecord.com
Hicks Morley’s John Saunders was quoted in the June 26, 2013 edition of TheRecord.com in an article entitled, “Waterloo firefighters seek pay parity at arbitration.” The article discusses the current arbitration between the City of Waterloo and the Waterloo Professional Fire Fighters Association. View Article
The Ongoing Saga of the 24 Hour Firefighter Shift
In recent years, one of the top demands sought by fire associations at the bargaining table and at interest arbitration has been the 24 hour shift schedule. Many municipalities have continued to vigorously resist this demand. In our FTR Now “Three Recent Decisions, Three Different Results – An Update on the 24 Hour Shift in…
Arbitrator Finds Video Surveillance Reasonable in Light of Safety Issues in the Workplace
A recent arbitration award has confirmed that where an employer has legitimate concerns regarding safety in the workplace, it may install and operate video surveillance. This decision, which involved surveillance in a fire station to ensure equipment was not tampered with, engaged privacy considerations, the reasonableness of such surveillance and whether the surveillance was conducted…
Hicks Morley Recognized in EMC News
Hicks Morley was recognized in the January 24, 2013 edition of EMC News in an article entitled “Fire chief honoured for work in negotiations“. Hicks Morley is a proud sponsor of the annual Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs’ Labour Relations Seminar and this year honoured Fire Chief Joel Gorman with the 2012 Fire Chief of…
Ontario Releases Draft Compensation Restraint Legislation for Consultation
Earlier today, the Ontario Minister of Finance announced draft omnibus legislation, the Protecting Public Services Act, 2012 (the “Draft Bill”), that would implement new, substantially more restrictive compensation restraint measures, and impose a significant new provincially mandated collective bargaining regime, for the Broader Public Sector (“BPS”). Highlights of the Draft Bill include: Schedule 1 (enacting…
Three Recent Decisions, Three Different Results – An Update on the 24 Hour Shift in the Fire Sector
INTRODUCTION In recent years, the issue of whether or not to adopt a 24 hour shift schedule has become one of the top demands that fire associations are seeking at the bargaining table and at interest arbitration. Fire associations have sought the 24 hour shift regardless of the size of the department, population served or…
Bill 181, Mandatory Retirement Legislation For Firefighters, Receives Royal Assent
On June 1, 2011, Bill 181, Fire Protection and Prevention Amendment Act, 2011, received Royal Assent. As previously reported, Bill 181 amends the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997 to provide for the mandatory retirement at age 60 of firefighters regularly assigned to fire suppression duties, in certain circumstances, and impose a duty of fair…
Canada Revenue Agency Provides Further Information about New Volunteer Firefighter Tax Credit
As originally announced in March of 2011 and confirmed with the re-introduction of the Federal Budget on June 6, the Budget proposes a non-refundable tax credit for volunteer firefighters for 2011 and future tax years. This credit will be available to volunteer firefighters who perform at least 200 hours of service for their communities during…