The two sides in the deadlocked contract negotiations between the Weyburn Police Association and the Board of Police Commissioners will resume their talks some time in late May, city council was told. In a report from the police commission, Coun.
The two sides in the deadlocked contract negotiations between the Weyburn Police Association and the Board of Police Commissioners will resume their talks some time in late May, city council was told.
In a report from the police commission, Coun. Rob Stephanson said following an in camera discussion of the matter, they decided they would try to get back together for talks on a date to be set in late May.
He added the board was "very clear" that they are not interested in any arbitration of the contract, but want to see a negotiated settlement with the WPA.
The WPA has been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2011; negotiations have been going, on and off, since June of 2012.
In regard to arbitration, the police association had suggested it when the two parties reached an impasse, but the police commissioners and the city have rejected that avenue.
One of the outstanding issues for the WPA is wages, as they say are lagging far behind that of a similar-sized city and police force in Estevan, and are asking for parity with them, which would be an increase of some nine per cent, according to previously-released information from the WPA.
For the city's side, they have declined to discuss numbers in public, but do point out that salaries comprise 85 per cent of the budget for the Weyburn Police Service, and that the city's spending on policing has increased some 174 per cent in the last 12 years or so, while alleging that complaint calls have only increased "marginally".
The WPA took a strike vote early on in the dispute, but the purpose of it was to show their solidarity; they have repeatedly said since then they will not actually take strike action, as they feel it would compromise the public's safety to do so.
