ESTEVAN -
The Estevan Police Association (EPS) has reached a new three-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the Estevan board of police commissioners.
The pact is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2022, and includes a retroactive three per cent wage increase for 2022, another three per cent hike for 2023 and a four per cent bump in 2024. The deal expires on Dec. 31 of next year.
A wage increase for the police was factored into the 2023 budget.
EPA president Kevin Reed said maternity, paternity and adoption leave was fairly outdated in the previous agreement, so it has been adjusted to be in line with the new federal guidelines. The new CBA also changed how annual leave was allotted for members, based on the years of service.
“It was old wording from a long time ago, and it just needed to be updated, so that was a big change,” said Reed.
He was pleased with how negotiations went. They met for the first time on Oct. 27, 2022, and had two subsequent meetings before reaching the deal. Reed said the association’s members were pleased with what the negotiating committee presented.
“When you’re negotiating agreements, and you’re negotiating for years down the road, especially right now when we have inflation rates the way they are, you’re always apprehensive as to whether you’re negotiating appropriately, but we were confident that signing to the end of ’24, the numbers that we got will be sufficient,” said Reed.
The EPS wants wage increases that are similar to what the other five municipal policing agencies receive.
“You can’t very well go to an employer and ask for a substantially larger raise than what your comparators have,” said Reed.
Mayor Roy Ludwig, who is also the chairman for the police board, said the negotiations were better this time than the last negotiations, when the local police worked 2019 and the vast majority of 2020 without a CBA, and the two sides had to go to mediation before a new contract was settled.
“There were just so many issues that we could not come to an agreement on [last time], unfortunately. It went to arbitration, and of course, we would rather negotiate a collective agreement than go to arbitration, because it’s expensive for both parties, and then both parties are usually not overly satisfied with the end result,” said Ludwig.
The mayor noted there were more issues to be dealt with in the last negotiations. This time they were able to move forward in a better fashion.
Reed said there was a stalemate very quickly in the last CBA negotiations that resulted in arbitration.
“Everybody came with an open mind [this time] and listened to each other,” said Reed.
The police union presidents is pleased they won’t have to go back to negotiations again for another two years.
“Wage increases boost morale, always, but it’s a short-term boost. It is nice to know that it’s settled and your employer appreciates the work you’re doing, and you’re able to come to an agreement fairly quickly.”
A new CBA was announced in late January between the city and CUPE Local 726, which represents the city’s unionized employees. Ludwig said the city can now focus on other matters than bargaining meetings.
“I know our employees at the city and the police members will be happier that those collective agreements are settled, and we can move forward now and concentrate … on everyone doing a good job,” said Ludwig.
