The municipal township of Saint-Félix-de-Valois has made a choice with severe consequences: to suspend three firefighters and a lieutenant, three of whom were union representatives, for purely administrative reasons. The union considers this measure unnecessary and abusive. Worse, it directly jeopardizes public safety at a time when the work environment at the fire station was already tense.
These suspensions come just as mediation talks with the Quebec Ministry of Labour were to begin with a view to finding ways to improve the work environment. The township chose instead to call off the process before it even began, thus closing the door to a constructive resolution.
Yet, to compensate for its lack of personnel, the township spent thousands of dollars last weekend alone to mobilize the four remaining firefighters and guarantee that there would be a minimum crew in the event of a fire. It was also forced to call on another fire department just to meet its fire safety cover plan obligations.
“It would have been less costly and, especially, less dangerous, to keep the targeted firefighters on the job,” said Maxime Valade, representative for firefighters in CUPE 7175. “The issues should have been resolved administratively, without compromising public safety.”