Windsor ratepayers took a “big hit” in an arbitrator’s interim award that granted more than $7.3 million in retroactive pay to city firefighters, but some of the toughest stuff remains to be negotiated, says Coun. Bill Marra.

“When you look at the environment we’re in today, it’s a situation that isn’t manageable for a municipality like Windsor,” Marra said of the more than three per cent in annual pay hikes awarded the city’s firefighters for the period Jan. 1, 2006, to Dec. 31, 2009 — a non-compounded increase totalling 12.64 per cent.

“We’re not surprised but certainly disappointed,” said Marra, who is acting-mayor this week during Eddie Francis’s trip to England.

Post-retirement benefits and a union request to reduce the average firefighter’s weekly hours from 48 to 42 remain major outstanding issues, and the provincial arbitrator has given both sides until the summer to try to negotiate those, as well as wages, as part of a contract extension through 2010.

Council on Monday authorized the corporation’s bargaining team to “attempt to negotiate” such a deal “within the parameters and principles” negotiated with the city’s CUPE members and non-union professionals, managers and supervisors.

That means the same “strong position” the employer took over ending post-retirement benefits, the main issue behind CUPE’s bitter 101-day strike, “is going to be a major issue of discussion,” Marra said.

Agreeing to the 42-hour work week could require hiring up to 24 more firefighters, he said.

With Windsor’s battered economy and decreasing corporate revenues, council recently approved a plan to eliminate 12 positions at Windsor Fire and Rescue and permanently eliminate an aerial ladder truck.

“We won’t compromise public safety in any way, obviously, but certainly we have to meet the demands that we are facing financially,” said Marra.

Council also agreed to a motion by Coun. Jo-Anne Gignac to communicate with AMO and the province over Windsor’s dissatisfaction with the current arbitration model, which councillors contend leads to similar pattern awards covering fire and police contracts across Ontario.

“There is a growing, growing concern regarding the arbitrated awards we’ve been seeing,” Gignac said. Windsor “simply does not have the ability to pay in terms of matching dollar for dollar” with other municipalities, she said.

The arbitration panel acknowledged that “Windsor had been particularly hard hit by the current economic recession,” but councillors questioned whether that was reflected in its decision.

“I took little comfort out of that … I think if they really took that into consideration, we would have seen something much lower than three per cent (per year),” said Marra.

After an interim payment of almost $1 million in 2008, the balance owing on the arbitrated settlement is estimated at $6.35 million. The salary for a first-class firefighter making $71,447 at the start of 2006 rose to $78,437 on Jan. 1, 2009, in line with other Ontario municipalities. Effective Jan. 1, 2009, firefighters with 20 years on the job get an additional 7.5 per cent.

When Coun. Ken Lewenza Jr. brought up the issue of post-retirement benefits — which CUPE eventually agreed to give up for new employees — CAO Helga Reidel said the city’s negotiating team acts “at the direction of council” but that possible bargaining positions “should probably be dealt with in camera.”

Fire chief Dave Fields said it was “very dangerous” for either party to focus on a single issue at the expense of the entire bargaining package.

Lewenza said the employer “took a winner-take-all approach” in the recent negotiations with CUPE and the non-union professionals and managers.

He voted for Gignac’s motion but against the main motion for the city’s bargaining team to negotiate “within the parameters and principles negotiated with the Corporation’s other bargaining units.”