Don’t blame firefighters for the arbitration decision that gave them raises at a time when the city is up against it financially.
The President of Local 771 of the Firefighters Association, Paul Stackhouse says his members are not the bad guys. He says if Saint Johnners have a problem with it, it was the city which opted for arbitration and it was the city which wanted a longer contract agreement.
Stackhouse goes on to say, under the shared risk model, firefighters will have to contribute another 4% of their pay into the pension plan and work longer to the age of 60 before retiring.
He also claims staffing at the fire department is well below what’s needed to handle the demand for fire service in the city. The number of firefighters has been reduced by more than 50 since 1999.
