Niagara Falls fire dispatch to merge with St. Catharines, pending arbitrator review

The City of Niagara Falls has decided to amalgamate its fire dispatch services with the dispatch services from the City of St. Catharines but is facing blowback from the local firefighters union.

The City of St. Catharines already provides dispatching services to two dozen municipal fire services. However, the dispute in this case is that the firefighters union is threatening legal action against the City of Niagara Falls, arguing the amalgamation will remove bargaining unit work. 

Council had previously directed city staff to negotiate a contract with the City of St. Catharines to amalgamate its fire dispatch services as a cost-saving measure. Costs for these services could be cut by more than half through the move, according to city staff. 

Because of the threatened legal action, Chief Administrative Officer Jason Burgess recommended to Council that it direct staff to “appoint an arbitrator or other appropriate body” to review the dispute and do so in an expeditious manner. 

Council ultimately voted unanimously to support Burgess’s recommendation.

During the Council session, Councillor Lori Lococo asked staff whether St. Catharines’ fire dispatch services have all of the same equipment and systems that the Niagara Falls Fire Department currently uses. 

Burgess noted that, while there will be a change in some of the software used, city staff are confident that all of the services currently provided by dispatch services in Niagara Falls will be effectively provided by dispatch services in St. Catharines. 

In addition, part of the contract with the City of St. Catharines includes the ability for the City of Niagara Falls to opt out if St. Catharines’ dispatch is not meeting expected standards. There is also an ability for fire department officials from Niagara Falls to raise concerns with St. Catharines without immediately choosing to opt out of the contract. 

Lococo also asked Burgess about concerns from some quarters about whether St. Catharines’ dispatch will be able to pick up calls in a timely manner, given that so many municipalities send their calls to the St. Catharines dispatch centre. 

Burgess noted that Niagara Falls’ dispatch service is not currently meeting its standards, and he also noted that if the St. Catharines dispatch service doesn’t meet its required standards, that is one of the mechanisms through which Niagara Falls can opt out of the contract.

Should that occur, Burgess said Niagara Falls would likely contract out its services to another municipal fire dispatch service rather than returning to having a local dispatch service based in Niagara Falls.

According to Burgess, no other municipalities have left St. Catharines’ dispatch service because of performance-based issues.

The Niagara Falls Professional Firefighters Association also spoke at the Council meeting.

Tim Lea, representing the Association, expressed “deep concerns” about Council’s move to remove bargaining unit work from the Association. 

Lea noted that in July, the union and the city engage in binding interest arbitration, and contracting out bargaining unit work was one of the sticking points. 

“I am respectfully requesting that the Mayor and Council refrain from proceeding with the removal of any bargaining unit work during the statutory freeze period,” said Lea.

Lea insisted that the union will initiate legal action should the City move forward. 

According to Burgess, an arbitrator will review Council’s decision and will report back with a ruling at the next Council meeting. The move is contingent on the arbitrator’s ruling.