Scugog and its full-time firefighters are headed to arbitration after negotiations for a new collective agreement stalled.
A release from the township said the two sides “reached an impasse” in contract talks, leaving the Scugog Professional Fire Fighters Association (Local 4679) to “exercise its right” to proceed with neutral, third-party arbitration to resolve the outstanding matters.
Scugog currently employs four full-time firefighters and two temporary firefighters, divided equally between fire stations in Port Perry and Caesarea. The department also uses 65 volunteer firefighters.
“The township values the work of all fire services staff, and we look forward to a fair settlement being reached in arbitration,” Scugog Township said in the release. “There will be no interruption to Fire and Emergency Services in Scugog while this matter is being arbitrated.”
Scugog signed a four-year deal in 2020 with SPFFA that gave firefighters a 7.1 per cent pay increase over the length of the deal. The last raise – 1.8 per cent – ended in 2023 and the firefighters have been without a new contract since the end of that year.
Scugog Fire Chief Mike Matthews – who was hired last October – said the old deal still applies. “We will follow the existing contract until a new one is reached,” he said.
The last contract included a few operational changes that were expected to save the township a few dollars, including switching the full-time fire crews to four-day work weeks on a two-platoon schedule.
The Scugog Fire Department responds to nearly 450 calls a year across the township and on the lands of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, the waters of Lake Scugog, as well as the former Mariposa Township (now part of Kawartha Lakes).