Saint John police officers have a collective agreement for the first time in more than two years.
The Saint John Police Commission and Saint John Police Association voted in favour of the deal last week.
It comes more than 27 months after the last collective agreement expired on Dec. 31, 2019.
Duane Squires, president of the association, said he feels the new four-year deal is fair for everyone involved.
“I don’t think either side is saying this is a slam dunk or a grand slam,” Squires said in an interview shortly after Tuesday’s announcement.
“We came out and said ‘you know what, this is fair, and we’ll bring it back to our side and see if it passes,’ and it did.”
Squires said the vote on the deal was not unanimous, but he declined to release specific numbers. He would only say it received the support of more than half of the members.
The new agreement includes a 6.99 per cent wage increase over four years, including 1.89 per cent in the first year, and 1.7 per cent in each of the remaining three years.
Members will also get an extra 2.5 per cent “wage compensation” for negotiated items required by the employer.
“That would have been savings that the employer would have found related to long-term disability coverage as well as basically differential spreads between our ranks,” said Squires.
“There were some concessions made by our members related to some costings related to LTD, but there was benefits for our members too related to some psychological services and reimbursements for those. There’s pros and cons in every package.”
Reaching the agreement did not come without a lot of back and forth between the union and its employer — some of which played out in public.
In Jan. 2020, the police union announced it would seek binding arbitration in an effort to get a new contract, blaming the city’s “retrogressive” wage escalation policy for tying the hands of the commission.
It said the same policy was the reason why a provincially-appointed conciliation officer could not make any headway two months later.
The police commission then filed a complaint with the province against the association, saying the union refused to “engage in any meaningful discussions” about its proposals or to “enter into discussions on wages and other financial terms.”
The New Brunswick Labour and Employment Board later ruled that the union did in fact bargain in bad faith. A mediator was eventually appointed by the province to help with the negotiations.
A news release sent by the police force on Tuesday said the cumulative wage increase over four years “falls within” the city’s wage escalation policy.
“The new agreement provides competitive compensation and benefits, clauses to ensure continued quality police services, and financial arrangements that respect the City of Saint John’s economic and fiscal context,” said the release.
It went on to say the association and the commission “recognize the importance of strong labour relations, and that compromise from both sides was necessary to achieve this agreement.”
The new contract extends retroactively from Jan. 1, 2020, and will remain in effect until Dec. 31, 2023.
“We’re happy to move on and not be in a bargaining position for another year or so,” said Squires.
The association represents all sworn Saint John Police Force officers from the ranks of probational constable to sergeant.
