2.5 per cent annual wage bump included in new Stratford police contract
The Stratford Police Services Board and Stratford Police Association have successfully negotiated a new, four-year collective agreement.
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Stratford’s police services board and the local police association announced Monday they have successfully negotiated a new four-year contract that includes a 2.5 per cent annual wage increase for uniformed officers.
When compared to the previous collective agreement, which expired on Dec. 31, 2022, the new contract also includes an improved benefits package, enhanced parental leave, better post-retirement benefits, updates to specialty unit and role compensation, and the introduction of a part-time policing program, police board officials said.
“We wanted to get a contract that’s fair to everybody – keeps finances and budgeting under control, but also compensates our officers fairly and comparably to other officers doing the same job in other places,” police services board chair Tim Doherty said. “There were no major sticking points, but we needed a few clarifications around a few points.
“The part-time policing is a newer idea across the province, so there were some conversations around what that would look like. We also arrived at the wage increase fairly easily and early in the conversation, so I give the police association a lot of credit for coming up with what I think is a very reasonable ask given inflation in the past number of years. There willingness to have a four-year contract allows us some … foundation for future years.”
The part-time policing program, Doherty explained, will provide the department more flexibility in covering full-time officers’ absences and time off while potentially reducing overtime expenses by offering part-time hours to a roster of recently retired police and those on parental or other leave.
Doherty also noted that parental leave for Stratford officers has been brought in line with parental leave offered by other police departments in the province after it had lagged somewhat in recent agreements.
From the police board and city’s perspective, Doherty said the annual wage increase was acceptable based on recently negotiated wage hikes for officers in other Ontario municipalities, noting it was within the range the city’s finance department asked the police services board negotiators to achieve.
In Woodstock, the current collective agreement, which came into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, and expires Dec. 31 of this year, provided uniformed officers with a two per cent annual pay increase across the board. Similarly, Sarnia police officers also got a two per cent annual wage hike in their current four-year contract, which expires at the end of this year.
“I think negotiations went really well,” Stratford Police Association president Robert McMillan said. “They were productive and respectful on both sides. We managed to see both sides of what went on and we were happy with the benefit improvements we were able to get for our members.”
With roughly 90 staff members and an average of more than 20,000 calls for service each year, the Stratford Police Service serves Stratford, St. Marys and Perth South.
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