The City of Lethbridge and the local firefighters’ union have reached a new deal.
The previous collective agreement between the City and the International Association of Firefighters Union Local 237 expired in 2020. On Tuesday, council ratified a new agreement between the two bodies covering 2021-2025.
Officials note that one of the more innovative aspects of the new agreement will let Lethbridge Fire and Emergency Services implement a new operating model within the department, allowing LFES to bring in an EMS operational division.
“The EMS division is an ability [for] us to hire paramedics that are out there in the workforce. What we’ve seen over the last couple of years is that we’re operating in a very tight labour market, and we do see a difficulty in bringing in advanced care paramedics,” explains Kevin McKeown, deputy fire chief – communications and strategy.
“What this EMS division does is allows us to recruit and attract paramedics to our service and allow them the ability to work as paramedics, without having to perform and complete their firefighter training right off the bat.”
He adds, “That avenue is still available for them. We are still an integrated service, where you [can] join as a paramedic, you work your time on the ambulance and progress through the fire training that we provide you up into the firefighter roles.”
“That isn’t changing. However, it does provide a broader and diverse group for us to attract and recruit from, potentially for those people that are more focused on EMS and don’t necessarily have that drive to become a firefighter.”
“However, we do hope to continue attracting all people that want to progress through the department into the fire service role.”
WAGE INCREASES
On top of the operational changes, the new agreement covers wage increases to the end of 2025. Members of the union will see a total wage increase of 16.25 per cent over five years, retroactive to 2021, with a breakdown as follows:
- 2021 – 2.75 per cent
- 2022 – 3.25 per cent
- 2023 – 3.00 per cent
- 2024 – 3.75 per cent
- 2025 – 3.50 per cent
The City of Lethbridge employs 253 IAFF members.
On November 27, 95 per cent of members voted on the new agreement and of those who voted; 99 per cent gave the thumbs up to ratifying the deal.
–With files from Laura Briggs
