Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Firefighters' sick-day deal under attack
THE City of Winnipeg should quit paying firefighters and paramedics for a career's worth of unused sick days, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation says.
The practice costs $2 million a year, but the firefighters union says the sick-day payout is really a form of early retirement compensation paid to firefighters too sick or injured to keep working.
Through an access-to-information request, the CTF found that city firefighters and paramedics were paid a total of $2.1 million in 2008 and even more the year before in accrued sick days paid out upon retirement.
According to a clause in their union contracts, paramedics and firefighters can cash out all the sick days they accumulated, to a maximum of about 11 months. If all the eligible firefighters and paramedics retired today, it would cost the city $27.2 million.
Colin Craig, the CTF's Prairie director, said firefighters do dangerous work and deserve to be paid fairly. But no other city workers, not even police officers, can save up their sick days for a lump-sum payout upon retirement.
"We're looking at $27 million that could be used on roads or on our crime problem," Craig said.
Alex Forrest, president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg, said the sick-time payout is fair compensation for firefighters struggling with asthma, arthritis, old injuries and even cancer who are forced to retire early, losing valuable pensionable years.
Forrest said Winnipeg firefighters and paramedics have low sick-day usage rates compared to the national average for similar workers, and other large fire departments have the same type of retirement allowances.
Firefighters are in the midst of negotiating a new collective agreement after their last one expired in December.
maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 19, 2010 A5
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