Burnaby firefighters may finally get the new collective agreement they’ve been fighting for come next July.
The City of Burnaby and the firefighters’ union, International Association of Firefighters Local 323, came to an agreement last week over the dates for arbitration, choosing July 7 and 8, 2016 – well into the department’s fifth year without a contract.
“The arbitrator gave us six different days in June, kind of a pair here, a pair there, that kind of thing, and none of those days worked for the city,” Rob Lamoureux, president of Local 323, said.
Until then, there is the possibility the city and union could meet for arbitration if another group cancels its two-day booking with arbitrator David McPhillips before July 2016, but it’s unlikely that situation would present itself, Lamoureux said.
