Breaking the cycle of unsustainable pay hikes

Obscenely high and unsustainable policing costs. OPP bills are destroying communities its officers are supposed to protect. Apparent self-interest is cloaked in the guise of public safety needs. Where is the political outrage while OPP costs continue to climb? Who is going to bring policing costs in this province under control?

Breaking the cycle of unsustainable pay hikes

Postby Thomas » Wed Aug 20, 2014 7:05 am

It feels a bit like Groundhog Day. This week, Dundas's Russ Powers, in his capacity as president of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, warned once again that the cost of policing and fire protection in Ontario's cities is out of sync with modern economic realities, and therefore not sustainable.

The Groundhog Day reference is due to the fact that this is a familiar refrain from Powers and the AMO. He said the same thing last year, and to date, it appears the provincial government — the only body that can actually solve the problem — isn't listening.

There is no mystery here. Unrealistic and unsustainable wage increases for police and firefighters are a result of the deeply flawed provincial interest arbitration system. First responders do not have the right to strike. So when police and fire unions can't get agreements with their employers, they file a no-board report and the matter is moved into the hands of an arbitration board. And that's where the problem begins.

Historically, arbitrated wage settlements are unrealistically high compared to other public sector settlements. Between 2013 and now, police in Windsor got an 11.7 per cent increase over four years. Back in 2011, Stratford firefighters got a 20 per cent increase. And earlier this year, the granddaddy of police contracts was arbitrated with the Ontario Provincial Police, resulting in an 8.5 per cent pay hike for OPP officers. (It's worth noting that comes after OPP officers got no increases for two years running, which is evidence that former bank economist Don Drummond is right when he says pay freezes don't work because the employer just ends up paying more once the freeze is lifted.)

These deals are choking municipalities such as Hamilton, which is currently negotiating with its police union. They make saving money on tax bills nearly impossible, and they're taking money away from other priorities such as infrastructure investment. And they're out of step with other public sector wage settlements that are arrived at without arbitration.

There's a solution here. The provincial Conservative Party has called for an overhaul of the arbitration system, including making it mandatory for arbitrators to take into consideration the ability of the employer to pay, current economic circumstances and comparable settlements in other sectors. The provincial Liberals, under Kathleen Wynne, have hinted they would be willing to undertake such reform, but nothing has surfaced since the election.

Granted, this is a government with a full agenda. But we would argue this should be near the top of the priority list, because as of this writing, negotiations are taking place across the province, and unless the cycle of spiralling increases is stopped, the financial sustainability of communities like ours will be eroded. It's time to stop the cycle.

Howard Elliott

http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/47 ... pay-hikes/
Thomas, Administrator

User avatar
Thomas
Site Admin
 
Posts: 2562
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 5:18 pm
Location: Canada

Return to Unsustainable Policing Costs

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 20 guests

cron