“The trial is flawed, but we have a fantastic police force. It`s got a price. Paying the Hat Medicine police more than the Toronto police hurts us because we do not have the same purchasing power as Toronto. The cost of living is cheaper in Medicine Hat, so work is cheaper – it`s one of the main competitive advantages of small towns. It is always better for the city and the police union to get an agreement without an arbitrator, but it is helpful to understand how arbitration works to better educate the public, what kinds of balances and trade-offs are to be expected. Finally, a binding conciliation is the hammer that hangs over any collective bargaining. Here is my understanding of the factors that contribute to a collective police agreement. If the city and the police are unable to reach an agreement on the union plan, both parties can ask for conciliation. If mediation fails to resolve our disputes, each party may again escalate and request a binding arbitration procedure.

Alberta`s six municipal police forces have different contract terms, making current comparisons more difficult. “The most difficult part of any collective bargaining process is the monetary part,” says City Councillor Julie Friesen, a member of the Police Commission. “In this case, there was no agreement on parts of them.” This agreement applies only to officers of the Department of Justice and the Attorney General, Department of Corrections, who are assigned to a 6/3 rotation. The city has been negotiating for more than a year, but has finally secured the new agreements. They are for a period of four years, from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2020. The Medicine Hat Police Service, a great future career in excellence, service and personal growth. It should be noted that the police are designated as an essential service. This weakens a union by removing its most powerful bargaining instrument – its ability to strike. So we have to be particularly careful with our relationship. Ignoring or minimizing the impact of local economic conditions on police salaries penalizes two groups: small municipalities and metropolitan police officers.

Referee Stan Lanyon works by motivating all arguments. He agreed with the union that Delta`s collective agreement was not a good comparator, as economic conditions and working conditions vary widely in Vancouver. But he disagreed with Calgary and Edmonton. In Lanyon`s 2014 and 2016 decision, he wrote that wages in Alberta were “too rich” for Vancouver and were not fair comparators because of Alberta`s unique provincial economy (at least at that time). From 2001 to 2015, wages in Alberta increased by 17.6% more than those in British Columbia. “I don`t know anyone in the private sector who is approaching these increases,” said Councillor Turnbull. “I will not support the treaty, but I support the police.” Police officers in large cities are disadvantaged when they are paid in small towns in the same way as police officers, but they face a dramatic increase in the cost of living. Wage increases have caused the biggest conflict between the agreements.

All amendment recommendations must be approved by the majority of committee members and can be implemented by mutual agreement if adopted by the employer and the Union. “I am proud of the police association that has found a middle ground,” he said. “Either that`s it, or we would have gone to a binding arbitration. It would have cost us a lot of money. But if police work were under such specialized labour laws and former arbitrators and judges had not left for so long to stress the need to take into account local economic conditions on police salaries.