The Weyburn Board of Police Commissioners is preparing to head back to the negotiating table in late May with the Weyburn Police Association, to try and finalize a new contract for the police members who have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2011.
This could be good news for members of the WPA, as they have been at an impasse with the city since bargaining first got underway in June of 2012, but this will depend greatly on whether each side will be willing to bend or compromise in their previous positions.
If both sides won't budge, then the talks will be very short, and nothing will be accomplished.
On the city side, the police commission wants to be responsible with the budget of funds approved by city council for the ongoing operation of the police department; according to their figures, salaries of police officers comprise 85 per cent of the department's budget, so any increases will likely flow through to the taxpayers' tax bills and wallets.
The city also claims that the city's spending on police has gone up 174 per cent over the last dozen years while calls to service have allegedly only changed "marginally".
The police themselves dispute that calls have gone up marginally, pointing out the growth in the city, particularly in the last three or four years due to the boom in the southeast oil industry, and an influx of many new families to fill the labour shortage of many businesses, large and small, in Weyburn and area.
What the police members are most upset about, however, is that they are the lowest paid members in the province, and are far behind an equivalent-sized city like Estevan, with one figure put out that a constable in Estevan makes as much as $10,000 more than his or her brother in Weyburn.
They have also stated they are not seeking parity with Regina's police members, but parity with Estevan which is set at around 93 per cent of Regina's salary level.
The city has balked at this, but taxpayers might be left wondering just how long they can go without settling with their police department. The police force recently lost Const. Chad Bailey, who resigned from the force out of frustration over the lack of a contract resolution, and has gone to work in the oilpatch for more money. A settlement needs to be reached, before anyone else is lost to the police department.
