Edmonton firefighters finally get new contract

Back in August, I wrote an article regarding several thousand firefighters in Alberta who had been waiting years for new collective agreements.

One of those groups were firefighters employed with the City of Edmonton.

Represented by Local 209 of the International Association of Fire Fighters, otherwise known as the Edmonton Fire Fighters’ Union, these roughly 1,300 workers haven’t had a new contract since their old one expired in December 2018.

Well, these workers—which include those in firefighting and supportive roles—have finally received a new contract!

Earlier this week, I obtained a copy of a notice sent out by Local 209 regarding a recent arbitration decision on the contract. In the notice, the executive board of the local indicated that the workers are set to receive retroactive wage increases for every year of the contract.

23 December 2018	1.0%
8 December 2019	1.8%
20 December 2020	2.0%
19 December 2021	3.0%
18 December 2022	2.5%

That works out to 10.3% over the life of the contract, or 10.72% if you account for compound increases. This is an average of 2.06% (2.14%) per year.

Before we get too excited, however, we should also see how these increases compare with inflation.

In December 2017, the last time these workers received a wage, the consumer price index in Alberta sat at 137.6. By the time 5 years had passed, in December 2022, it had jumped to 160.8.

That’s an increase of 23.2 points, or 16.86%.

Even if we account for compound increases and say that these firefighters and related workers are set to receive a 10.72% raise, that’d still leave them with a cut to real wages—wages adjusted for inflation—of 6.14%.

A 10.72% increase is better than nothing, but it still leaves these workers struggling to keep up with the increase to the cost of living.

And remember, that’s just until December 2022. We’ve had two more years of inflation, so the cut to real wages is actually greater.

According to the notice, there were several other improvements made in this new contract.

For example, the health care spending account has increased from $500 to $900. Chiropractor coverage has increased from 75% to 80% and acupuncture has increased from 50% coverage to 80%. Finally, eye exam coverage also went up, from $50 every 2 years to $80 every 2 years.

Unfortunately, the arbitrator denied all improvements to coverage for massage therapy, glucose monitoring, and psychologists or social workers.

The notice sent out by Local 209 didn’t indicate what the expiry date is on this new contract; although, typically, contracts expire a year after the last wage increase, so it likely expired last December.

If that’s the case, that means their new contract is already an old contract, and it’s been a year since it expired. The bargaining team for these workers has its work cut out for them as they move forward with bargaining on the next contract.

This contract had been in arbitration since May 2023. Prior to that, the City of Edmonton and the bargaining team for these workers had gone to mediation, which had began in November 2022.

Hopefully, this next round will go more smoothly.

Update (21 February 2024): I found a copy of the contract on Mediation Services’ website, and sure enough, the contract expired in December 2023, nearly a year before the contract was settled.