04/28/2015 (2) v
tilati ICS CITYOFA CANADA
NIAGARA FA►SS
The City of Niagara Falls, Ontario
Resolution
April 28, 2015
No. 14
Moved by Councillor Thomson
Seconded by Councillor Campbell
WHEREAS Niagara Falls City Council recognizes that emergency services professionals
(police, fire and emergency medical services/EMS) work in dangerous settings and should
be highly respected, however, labour costs and increases within the emergency services
sector continue to rise at rates that are exceeding those in other sectors and include higher
wage increases, better benefits and retirement plans; and
WHEREAS the interest arbitration system has lead to higher arbitration awards for
emergency services personnel that have not fully considered local economic factors and the
taxpayers' ability to pay; and
WHEREAS the taxpayers' ability to pay is a criterion enshrined in the Police Services Act,
1990, the Fire Protection and Prevention Act, 1997, the Public Sector Dispute Resolution Act,
1997, and the Ambulance Services Collective Bargaining Act, 2001; and
WHEREAS arbitrators have failed to properly consider the taxpayers' ability to pay in their
decisions and have failed to articulate the rejection of the criterion, instead justifying their
award based on the municipality's ability to raise taxes or run deficits; and
WHEREAS arbitrators' awards have often looked at past decisions of wage parity in the
emergency services field, as opposed to comparing wage settlements to other union and non-
union employees within the same municipality; and
WHEREAS especially in Niagara, interest arbitration awards often exceed the increase in
average annual household income and use comparables of more affluent regions; and
WHEREAS in 2013, almost 75% of public sector employees on the"Sunshine List"were from
the emergency personnel field;
WHEREAS increased wages and benefits in the emergency services field take away funding
in from other public safety programs, equipment replacement and hiring of new staff; and
WHEREAS a public backlash is likely to occur if increased wages and benefits in the
emergency services continue to increase unabated; and
WHEREAS it is not fiscally responsible for Ontario municipalities to pass on substantial tax
increases to fund emergency services arbitration awards at the expense of other municipal
programs; and
WHEREAS efforts by the Emergency Services Steering Committee(ESSC), ajoint committee
of the municipalities of the Large Urban Mayors Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO), the Mayors and
Regional Chairs of Ontario (MARCO), and the Ontario Association of Police Services Boards
(OAPSB) have been unsuccessful to date in affecting labour cost containment in emergency
services; and
WHEREAS ESSC's 2011 position paper"Escalating Emergency Services Labour Costs and
the Taxpayers' Ability to Pay" calls on arbitrators to act responsibly, consider all existing
legislative criteria, most notably the municipality's ability to pay, look at the local economic
realities, consider true economic indicators as they affect the average taxpayer and consider
comparisons to non-emergency services workers; and
WHEREAS representatives of Niagara Falls City Council and the Chief Administrative Officer
have regularly raised the interest arbitration issue at meetings with the Minister of Labour at
the annual Association of Municipalities of Ontario (A.M.O.) conference; and
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that Niagara Falls City Council calls on the Premier of
Ontario and the Minister of Labour to introduce legislative changes to reform the Interest
Arbitration system in Ontario; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that Niagara Falls City Council calls on the Emergency
Services Steering Committee (ESSC) and Association of Municipalities of Ontario (A.M.O.)
To continue to make the reform of the Interest Arbitration system a priority issue; and
FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the resolution be sent to the local M.P.P. and to A.M.O.
for distribution to other Ontario municipalities.
Motion Carried
AND The Seal of the Corporation be hereto affixed.
D AN IOR ID JAMES M. DIODATI
CITY CLERK MAYOR