Arbitrator chosen, date to be determined

By Andrea Klassen - Kamloops This Week Updated: June 04, 2013 1:44 PM
The City of Kamloops and the local firefighters’ union have picked an arbitrator, but haven’t yet decided when they will sit down in an attempt to come to an agreement on a new contract. City CAO David Trawin said lawyers for the city and the union are exchanging information to ensure both sides are clear on each other’s position. “It’s been a while and we went back and forth. Some things are on, some things are off,” Trawin said. “So, it’s like, OK, here’s our stuff, what’s your stuff so we know what we’re going to arbitration exactly on?” The firefighters’ last contract with the City of Kamloops expired on Dec. 31, 2010. The city filed an application for arbitration last summer, after failing to agree on a new contract in mediation. At that time, Kris Krutop, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 913, told KTW wages were the main sticking point in negotiations. Krutop said the union wants parity with Vancouver firefighters, which has been the norm. Trawin said the city feels it has offered parity. While firefighters have been offered the same main wage increases as Vancouver, Trawin said the city hasn’t offered offsets — wage increases that come from finding cost-saving measures in Kamloops Fire Rescue’s operations. “It’s come down to that,” he said. “We thought we offered Vancouver and they thought they could get a better deal out of Vancouver.” Trawin said there is still a chance offsets could become part of the deal if firefighters can find places to trim KFR’s budget. While the city is without an acting fire chief due to Neill Moroz’s decision to retire in May after stepping away from the post on personal leave, Trawin said that won’t affect negotiations. However, replacing Moroz is a higher priority than negotiating a contract for 2013 and 2014, which also needs to be done, Trawin said. Kamloops isn’t the only city holding off on contract negotiations. “No one seems to be doing that in the whole province,” he said. “Everyone’s waiting for Vancouver to set the tone on this one.”