North Battleford Mayor David Gillan, centre right, after signing the contract with the firefighters' union Monday. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Three-year agreement

City signs new contract with firefighters’ union

Mar 28, 2023 | 7:09 AM

It’s official.

The City of North Battleford signed a new three-year collective agreement with the North Battleford Firefighters’ Association Local #1756 at council’s meeting Monday.

The agreement calls for a total of about a 10 per cent wage increase over three years, which works out to roughly around three per cent more per year, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2025. When factoring in the compound interest, the total works out to close to 10 per cent over the three-year period.

The City of North Battleford’s salary for a first class firefighter, after serving four years, on Jan. 1, 2023, was $7,418 per month. As of July 1, 2025, the first class firefighter salary will be $8,061 per month.

North Battleford Fire Department Fire Chief Lindsay Holm was glad to see the contract ratified so quickly this time. He said it was one of the fastest negotiations he has ever been involved in.

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“Typically, with the collective agreement both parties have to ratify it, which means the union has to have a vote on it as well as city council for making sure that they are all in agreement with what was proposed in that collective bargaining,” he said. “In this round, the collective bargaining was absolutely excellent.”

Holm said the city received some good concessions from the union local, while in turn the local also received some positive concessions from the city.

“It was something that was very amicable – both parties got exactly what we needed,” Holm said. “But I don’t think either party got exactly what they wanted. So, in my mind when a collective bargaining is done properly that’s exactly how it should work out. I have a lot of respect for the International Association of Firefighters [IAF] – my Local. Those guys did an excellent job of bargaining.”

Mayor David Gillan was also pleased to see the agreement now complete.

“I’m very happy to have it signed,” he said. “We worked very closely together with the firefighters’ union, and came to an agreement with both parties that we are both happy with.”

Council previously approved the terms of the updated agreement with the IAF Local 1756 at its meeting on March 13. At that time, City Manager Randy Patrick said administration believed the contract was reasonable, and recommended council accept it.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow