New Westminster firefighters will get to work hammering out details on how to address future changes to the fire department.
Members of Local 256 of the International Association of Firefighters recently ratified a collective agreement that includes a 2.5 per cent annual wage increase for each year of the contract, as well as some moves to restructure the department. Some of the changes coming to the fire department include the ability to increase opportunities for firefighters to move between the fire prevention and suppression divisions and to reclassify assistant chiefs (also known as battalion chiefs) and create a new senior captain’s position.
“What we have agreed to do is eliminate those positions and eliminate some of the administrative duties of those positions,” Fire Chief Tim Armstrong said about the assistant chiefs. “They will still be doing some administrative work, but not to the level they had been doing. Some of that would be picked up by the senior management within the department.”
Armstrong said the senior captains’ duties are going to be determined by the formation of a committee. A committee, comprised of union and management will meet to set up some dates where they will be able to get together and establish the committee structure and some terms of reference.
“We have agreed to form a committee to see what these senior captains work is going to look like and the level of responsibility they have,” he said. “For that level of responsibility, there is a pay increase above a captain’s rate of pay.”
According to Armstrong, the senior captain’s rate is going to be eight per cent above a normal captain. He said the department wouldn’t expect its employees to do the same work as the current assistant chiefs and pay them less money.
“Hopefully we will work through and create a job classification and job duties for that senior captain,” he told The Record. “If we fail to come to a consensus on it, both sides have agreed we will take it to a third party to mediate on.”
Armstrong anticipates that some of the day-to-day administrative tasks now done by assistant chiefs will be delegated to his two deputy chiefs and two assistant deputy chief.
“Again, that is going to be determined by the committee,” he said.
