Immediately after boosting firefighters' pay by 16 percent over the next four years, Corner Brook city officials cut four positions.
Just after the contract was signed, union officials were informed by management that the city was laying off four firefighters, according to CBC.
“It is never pleasant to lay-off employees. However this was the only option available to council if we were to meet the union’s demand for a wage increase and avoid a strike,” Mayor Neville Greeley said in a news release.
“Throughout the entire bargaining process, union officials were advised that the city could not meet their salary demands without workforce changes. The union was adamant that they would not partake in any discussion relating to staff reductions yet continued to demand a wage increase,” he said in the prepared statement.
Unionized fire department employees with the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 1222, have been without an agreement since December 2010.
