My Facebook page blew up last month with incredible interest after I conducted an unscientific survey regarding professional firefighters in Yorkton and whether or not we support them or is it in our best interests to find a way to cut this service and use ‘volunteers’. I’ve made no secret of the fact I support a full-time paid staff.
On the issue of volunteers, it’s a well established fact that many communities who utilize volunteer firefighters face a challenge that gets more and more daunting each year as there, simply, isn’t the volunteer base with which you can get an adequate number of people to step up. I know just from my own experiences through volunteering for various groups and organizations, that there is an increasing demand on people for their time and it’s tough to get people to commit to anything, let alone a very specific job that requires a certain set of physical skills. This isn’t a matter of raising your hand and saying you will do the job, if asked. There are strict requirements that have to be met, training programs that have to be passed, and other various guidelines that need to be followed. The job is a lot less glorious than years past when a call would come in, a bunch of people would assemble at the hall and then jump on a tanker and go extinguish a blaze. So, while I think from the outset, the volunteer firefighter position may appeal to quite a few, I think the novelty would wear off and we would run the risk of not having enough qualified, reliable people to respond to emergencies.
What we have in Yorkton is a relationship that has no trust, and it predates the current people involved in key positions with the city and the firefighters, but I feel the onus is on the city to extend an olive branch. To me, city hall puts the managers (fire chiefs) in an incredibly unenviable position to choose sides. Either fall in line with the authority at city hall and become an adversary to the very people you are supposed to be leading, or else align yourselves with those on staff and where the uniform, thus putting your job on the line due to the fact you don’t have the same protection they do because you are outside the bargaining unit.
Here’s the part the firefighter’s aren’t going to like. To me, the parent of all firefighter unions (not the Yorkton local) needs to sit down and give their head a shake and realize the raises being given to these employees is exorbitant and, in some cases, will not be sustained by municipalities too much longer. This problem is not Yorkton specific, but rather nation wide. I would never say a firefighter is overpaid or underpaid, but I would say if you signed up for the job, you should have a pretty good idea where the salary range is going to fall depending on where you live. I’d make the same argument to people who say firefighters are overpaid. If you think that’s the case, then get yourself an application and sign up for this ‘easy’ job. I think in Yorkton, the local membership can see money doesn’t grow on trees and if you could put a few people in a room where trust could be established, a reasonable agreement can be hammered out. The issue, however, from the local firefighter perspective is that their union that oversees the entire country isn’t going to be happy to set precedent on lower raises. My message to the union would be to try and work, amicably, with municipalities to protect the jobs you have, rather than bleed municipalities dry to the point where it becomes stressful on the employee wondering about job security.
I would like to think as citizens we are not naive. We see a significant amount of waste through the public sector all the time. Until you can prove to me the city is run on a strict budget where tough decisions have been made and there is no waste, then even discussing the viability of a professional firefighter staff is a non starter. My suspicions would be that if we move to volunteer staffing, the headaches will go up, residents will not notice an ounce of relief on the tax bill nor will they see any benefit on different services rendered, and in fact taxes will still increase.
I appreciate everything the firefighters do in our community, a lot of which goes unnoticed and taken for granted. To not have them would be an incredible step backwards.
That unscientific survey on my Facebook page last month indicates I’m not alone and there is a segment of the population that sees this dispute as one where the city, simply, has an axe to grind with the union. My post has generated more interest than, even, I could have imagined. I’ve fielded calls from folks that should not be even calling me. The passion is great.
Consider this my message to both sides to bury the hatchet and start working together so that I don’t get a comment from a longtime firefighter who says, “I’ve never once been wished a Merry Christmas by the folks who are in power with the City.”
