The head of the Campbell River firefighters’ union says hiring more staff is the only solution to curb the department’s overtime problem long term.
During budget talks this month, city council heard there’s been about 19,000 hours of overtime this year.
While a 26th firefighter was hired last year to bring that number down, IAFF Local 1668 President Jesse Challoner says unplanned overtime is weighing on existing members.
“So, right now those hours are being absorbed by overtime but that puts an increased workload, an increased exposure to the occupational stress of the job and exposure to hazardous situations,” he said in an interview with Vista Radio.
“It increases fatigue on the workforce which then also compounds the sick time allotment as well.”
Challoner finds it “curious” fire brass noted the majority of overtime is for vacation considering that’s a planned absence.
As for the new flex firefighter position, it isn’t enough.
“Hiring one additional firefighter doesn’t absorb that amount of overtime (approximately 5,000 hours a year for sickness and injury). The overtime that a firefighter works in a year is 2,200 hours and so I think there’s maybe a little bit of a disconnect in how much overtime one full-time firefighter can absorb,” Challoner said.
Asked if overtime planning for the department could be done better, Challoner said he would leave that to the people in charge of “making those leadership decisions and budgetary decisions and the implications on the department.”
City council agreed to increase the fire department’s operating budget this year by $375,000 to cover department overages.
