The Weyburn Police Service will be losing another police officer by the end of this year as the unresolved contract talks continue to drag out without any end in sight. Const.
The Weyburn Police Service will be losing another police officer by the end of this year as the unresolved contract talks continue to drag out without any end in sight.
Const. Gilbert Madsen, who has been with the Weyburn force for two and a half years, has served notice that he has officially accepted a position with the Saskatoon Police Service, with his new position to start in the new year on Jan. 6.
He is the second officer to leave due to the unresolved contract dispute; Chad Bailey left the force earlier this year, citing the wage dispute as a reason as he has gone on to work in the local oilpatch.
For the past six months, Const. Madsen has been commuting in to work from Bengough, which is an hour's drive one way, because he and his wife have been unable to find anything affordable for housing in Weyburn.
Even with an hour's drive and the price of gas, Madsen said, "It's still cheaper for us to do that than to live in town."
He noted when he and his wife moved their family out to Bengough, they waited to see if the labour dispute might get resolved and with a pay increase enable them to move back to Weyburn - but as the dispute has continued to go unresolved, they decided to look elsewhere, and he was able to find a much higher-paying position in Saskatoon.
Besides the pay, he said, a major consideration for he and his wife is this will allow him to spend more time with his four daughters, who range in age from two months up to five years old.
As it is now, with the time he has to spend commuting, his family time has greatly suffered as he just has time to eat when he gets home, and then the kids are going to bed.
Const. Madsen said they greatly enjoyed their time in Weyburn when they first moved here for his position with the city police, but as their housing costs rose, they found it necessary to relocate out of Weyburn - and Bengough was the closest centre they could find suitable housing in.
He noted that he kept Chief Marlo Pritchard and Inspector Russ Chartrand in the loop about his family's situation all along, so they've been aware of his situation, and the decision to look elsewhere for a job, so they weren't surprised when he informed them he had formally accepted the position with Saskatoon.
"They understand completely that my family is a big thing in my life. They're sad to see me go, but they're happy for me that I'll be able to care for my family better," said Const. Madsen. Tentatively, his last day with the Weyburn police will be Boxing Day, Dec. 26, and his first day with the Saskatoon police will be Jan. 6.
Madsen was unwilling to get into the specifics about the contract dispute numbers that have been cited by the city and by the police association negotiator, except to say it seems no progress is being made, and that's very frustrating for him and for the members of the police service.
"It's not helping any when you've been sitting for a year and a half and nobody seems to be negotiating. Not changing positions on where you want to be, how is that negotiating? It really gets frustrating," said Madsen.
The city and police association have been in an impasse for a while; the WPA's contract expired on Dec. 31, 2011, and the two sides have been negotiating since June 2012.
The WPA asked some months ago for binding arbitration when it was clear there was not going to be a resolution anytime soon, but the police commission board rejected the request. After a tentative agreement was most recently rejected by the commission, the WPA has asked a second time for arbitration, but commission head Mayor Debra Button has stated that she prefers a contract settlement be found at the negotiating table rather than through arbitration.
The city reiterated their stance also as standing firm on its offer of 12 per cent over three years, or a four-per-cent increase per year.
In stating this position, Mayor Button said a big part of this is for the city to be able to "live within our means".
"Our current 12-per-cent offer to the police is far more than we have provided any other employees in the City of Weyburn. We appreciate the very important work the WPS does for the people of Weyburn; however, the same goes for all the men and women who serve our city in many different ways," she said.
As the city stated they will not move from this position, the WPA has asked the Labour minister, Don Morgan, to intervene if the police commission won't agree to arbitration (as the WPA has again requested), or failing that, to send the conciliator back to work with the two sides again.
The WPA has sought to bring the Weyburn force up to parity with the force in a similar-sized community, Estevan, and Moose Jaw, both of which are 93 per cent of the wage level of the Regina Police Service; the RCMP are already at that level or higher.
"Most definitely morale is being affected," said Madsen of the situation, saying that he and his fellow officers "want to know they are doing a good job. When things are not being resolved properly, you can definitely see it."
Most recently, he and Chief Pritchard manned the barbecue at the Salvation Army's centennial celebrations, and he noted many people came up to them and gave them support in their situation.
"Everyone I've talked to is very supportive of our position. Me and the chief met a lot of people, and they said they are supportive of the job we're doing. It's nice to have the public come up to us and tell us this."
He added that many residents will also tell them what they feel needs improving by the police force, so he feels good that people indicated "they're very happy with the job we're doing."
Most recently, Mayor Button made the comment that the average police officer is making $90,000 a year, with some officers making as much as $100,000 a year, but the police negotiator, Bernie Eiswirth, pointed out that Weyburn is still one of the lowest-paid police forces in the province.
Const. Shane St. John, president of the Weyburn Police Association, commented, "Constables sure as hell don't make that. The sergeants might make that if you include overtime and holidays. I'm not a sergeant, I'm not making that."
