Derek Kilbourn
Sounder News
Firefighters at the Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department have been certified by the BC Labour Relations Board (LRB) to form a union.
This comes after enough firefighters signed their names to an application to the LRB, to then trigger an LRB hearing, which was held this past Friday, March 14.
The Gabriola department is the second Paid On-Call department in BC to unionize.
The first was the North Cowichan Fire Department, who ratified their first collective agreement in 2023, represented by Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 358.
Vice-Chair Carmen Hamilton from the LRB presided over the hearing.
Aaron Young from CUPE Local 606 represented the applicants: Gabriola firefighters seeking to form a bargaining unit.
Kris Noonan, a lawyer with the Calgary firm Stikeman Elliott, represented the employer: the Gabriola Fire Protection Improvement District.
The hearing was held virtually, and was available to members of the public to view as observers. In attendance were Paul Giffin, Chair of the GFPID; Will Sprogis, Gabriola Fire Chief; and Deputy Fire Chief Jamie Ovens, as well as a number of members of the Gabriola Volunteer Fire Department.
While the LRB did eventually certify the application, it came after a lengthy closed-doors discussion between the representatives around whether the captains , lieutenants, and Corporate Officer would be included as members of the union, or be excluded.
Already excluded from the bargaining unit were the Fire Chief and Deputy Fire Chief.
Young said the union’s take was that the captains and lieutenants in the Gabriola department should be included within the bargaining unit, but that the employer was saying those positions should be excluded.
North Cowichan Fire Chief Ron French said the only persons in that fire department excluded from the bargaining unit were himself as Fire Chief, and the Deputy Fire Chiefs.
Young stated by reading the Gabriola Fire District bylaws, a person could see that none of the captains or lieutenants have the unilateral authority to make any hiring, firing or disciplinary decisions without approval the Fire Chief or the Board of Trustees.
Young said he hoped this disagreement could be dealt with on Friday prior to the LRB making a determination on certification. Noonan said he did not believe such a decision could be made on Friday by the LRB, as more submissions and discussions would need to take place.
He argued that each of the lieutenants and captains would occupy the role of a duty officer once every seven weeks – at the very least – for a period of 48 hours, at which point they would act in the role of the Fire Chief for that time. They would also occupy that position when the Fire Chief or Deputy Fire Chief are on holidays or any other leaves.
Noonan said this made it clear that the officers would be making decisions on discipline and discharge, as well as occupying a position of confidential capacity.
Noonan added that for the same reason, the Corporate Officer position should also be excluded from the bargaining unit, saying that person occupies two roles, as administrator and secretary for the fire department, and as corporate officer for the District.
“This individual attends general meetings, in camera meetings, he would be apprised of all confidential matters in respect of the fire department, and he is heavily involved in the finances of this group.
Noonan added, “there should be no dispute that…the corporate officer would not…be an employee, as defined in the code.”
Hamilton had the various parties moved into other virtual rooms to discuss the issue of excluding the officers from the bargaining unit. These discussions were not open to public observers.
The discussion resumed once the parties were moved back into the public room.
Young said his understanding was the employer was not willing to discuss the exclusions any further.
He said the applicants were choosing to opt for certification to be granted, and to try and resolve the inclusions and exclusions as part of the bargaining process. Noonan said the employer’s position was the certification should not be granted, as they did not know if the inclusion or exclusion of the officers would make any difference to the outcome.
Staff with the LRB said even with the exclusion of the ten individuals designated as officers, the union had enough signatures to pass the threshold for auto-certification.
Noonan said if the officers were excluded from the certificate, that discussion could be dealt with later.
Young said the union would agree, without prejudice to future decisions, to have certification approved and to try and resolve the exclusions down the road.
Hamilton said that with that in mind, the certificate was granted. With this decision, all members of the fire department, excepting those included on the exclusion list are now members of CUPE and can now move forward bargaining with the GFPID for a collective agreement.
Chair Paul Giffin did not provide comment to the Sounder regarding the certification.
CUPE issued a statement on March 18 stating firefighters at the GVFD have joined Canada’s largest union in pursuit of fair wages, improved working conditions and increased safety. The certification, which has been approved by the BC Labour Board, covers 29 workers at the GVFD.
“We are very excited to welcome GVFD workers into our Local, and into the broader family of emergency response workers in our National Union,” said Jeff Virtanen, President of CUPE Local 606, the local that will house CUPE’s newest members in British Columbia.
CUPE, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, represents more than 750,000 members across the country, including BC ambulance paramedics, 911 operators, and workers at the North Cowichan Fire Department.
The next step for GVFD workers is to negotiate a collective agreement that will better define their work, compensation, working conditions, and benefits—providing a venue for workers to seek improvements.
“Communities rely on first responders to deal with all measures of emergencies, and these workers deserve fair compensation, decent working conditions, proper protections and support when they are injured,” said Virtanen. “These workers enter into situations others are running from, and we need to ensure the community has their backs, like they have ours.”
CUPE Local 606 is based in Nanaimo and represents mid-Island workers at the Nanaimo-Ladysmith School District, Sources Community Living, and the Nanaimo Association for Community Living.
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