Over the course of the last several months, the Saugeen Shores Police Services Board and the Saugeen Shores Police Association have been negotiating with mutual intent to develop a new collective bargaining agreement for all Civilian and Uniform members of the Saugeen Shores Police Service.
The existing agreement expired on December 31, 2014. Beginning in March, 2015 the bargaining teams for the Board and the Association met together a total of six times. During the course of these meetings, the parties respectfully discussed the interests of management and employees. These discussions formed the basis for a series of proposals, each laying out terms for a new collective bargaining agreement. In total six such proposals were made, two by the Association and four by the Board.
The negotiation process continued until August 10, at which time the Association bargaining team rejected the Board's two year offer of July 14 and indicated that if the board would not accept the terms of the association's last, two year offer (made on June 17) negotiations were at an impasse and conciliation would be necessary.
In response to this, the Board offered a one year contract for 2015 only. All of the terms of this offer had been conditionally accepted by both parties over the course of the negotiations, including a 2015 compensation increase equaling approximately 2.82% for all employee groups.
The Association bargaining team agreed to take this offer to the Association membership. On August 26, the Board was advised that the Association membership had rejected the offer.
As a result, it is believed that no further progress can be made and the Board has decided to contact the Ontario Police Arbitration Commission in order to request that a conciliator be appointed to aid the parties in reaching a new agreement.
The Board regrets that the negotiation process has not succeeded but is hopeful that, through conciliation, the parties will be able to establish a new agreement that upholds the interests of both the Association members and the tax payers of the Town of Saugeen Shores.
The Board's Current Position on Compensation is as follows:
Annual compensation increases in the broader public sector have been trending downward in recent years. Until 2015, negotiated annual increases in the police sector have countered this trend.
This year, there have been a number of negotiated settlements within the Ontario police sector that have started to bring police compensation increases more in line with the declining trend exhibited within the rest of the public sector.
The most notable and influential of these settlements, between the Toronto Police Services Board and Toronto Police Association, includes a four year agreement with compensation increases as follows; 2015 - 2.75%, 2016 - 1.95%, 2017 - 1.9% and 2018 - 1.75%. Recent settlements in London and Hamilton have included agreements to the effect that compensation increases in those services would reflect those agreed to in Toronto.
It has been the Board's view, throughout the bargaining process, that compensation increases for 2015 and for future years should be generally consistent with the trend established by services like Toronto, London and Hamilton. The Board will carry this view into conciliation.
Important Facts about the Saugeen Shores Police Service:
Total Full Time, Uniform Members - 21; Total Full Time, Civilian Members - 3; Total compensation costs for 2014 - $2,321,357.48; Total benefit costs for 2014 - $617,212; Total Budget for 2014 - $3,397,781.
