The president of CUPE Local 900 says an arbitrator’s ruling into the City of Kamloops’ restructuring of its bylaws department to the Community Services Officers program is win for the union.

Ken Davis says their biggest concern was the way the restructuring plan was implemented, telling Radio NL the ruling confirms what the union had been saying all along.

“From the very beginning we were just trying to negotiate in good faith and come to an agreement on some of those outstanding issues,” he said. “In the end the arbitrator sided with the union, that the employer has violated the collective agreement, and so we see that as a win for sure.”

In his decision, provided to Radio NL by the union, arbitrator Andrew Sims said of the 32 employees affected by the restructuring, 21 were bylaw enforcement officers, 10 were custodial guards, and one was a bylaw services clerk.

Bylaws officers were paid $33.50 an hour, while civilian guards were paid $25.72 an hour.

While 17 employees were accepted into the CSO Training Opportunity position, just seven are now working in that role, according to the decision. The other 25 either found new jobs elsewhere with the City, took severance pay, or retired.

Sims said the City of Kamloops “prematurely and contrary to the collective agreement, advised the incumbent employees that, as a consequence of its reorganization, and its posting of the new position, their positions were eliminated.”

He also noted that the options given by the City to incumbents to allow them to make reliable and informed choices “were insufficiently precise” with respect to their right to continue working until the terms of the new jobs were negotiated as well as with respect to their options as a result of the elimination of the jobs.

Essentially, Sims said the employees were entitled to continue in their positions until the City had permission to post jobs involving non-normal shifts and rotating shifts.

Sims also said Kamloops, like many other urban cities, faces challenges due to homelessness and other related problems, noting it led to “citizen pressures to take action.”

“At the same time, the municipality faced financial pressures, both generally and in respect to community policing, the increased cost of the RCMP,” Sims wrote. “This is clear from the fact the City’s position not only involved a reorganization, but also a reduction in its overall workforce in this department.”

He also noted that Alberta had introduced new legislation allowing for some form of two-tier policing that gave bylaws officers peace officer status with enhanced powers. B.C., Sims said, was expected to follow suit.

“The City decided it needed to restructure to meet its budget problems and to prepare itself for the anticipated increase in municipal powers,” Sims said. “The decision was made to reconfigure managerial authority as well as to eliminate the two existing jobs and replace them with the CSO position.”

While Sims also rejected the union’s stance that it had “an express contractual right” to resist the creation of a new position, Davis reiterated the union was not opposed to the restructuring, but are opposed to the way it was done.

“All the employer had to do was respect the rights of the collective agreement, work with the union a little bit, and treat the employees right,” Davis said. “There’s a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge that the department had. That’s all we were asking.”

He also said while what the officers are called has changed, the job has not changed in a “real or substantive way.”

“You can go back as far as 2015 where our bylaw officers were dealing with homelessness, drug affliction, homeless camps and things like that,” Davis said. “If the employer wanted to introduce new or enhanced training, or a focus to a particular issue, they’re free to do that, and they can do within the classification that currently exists.

“There is no need to eliminate a classification and substitute a new one for the exact same type of job.”

While Sims did not issue any remedial measures, saying the two sides need to come together and negotiate a way forward, he noted he is willing to provide further direction if necessary.

“Some employees have moved on and will not wish to resume work with the city, others may wish to continue with employment. Any remedial measures will need to take into account the employee’s current choices,” Sims wrote.

Davis says he hopes to sit down with the City and negotiate a solution to things like lost wages, scheduling, hours of work, and language around probationary periods. He also said the two sides need to also come to a resolution about the issue of bumping rights.

“If we can start that process today, I’d be in favour of it,” he said. “As soon as the city is willing to start negotiating for that, we’re willing to start.”

While its not clear what it will cost taxpayers, with over 30 affected employees, Davis says it likely won’t be cheap.

“You’re looking at some [members] that left the city and have had very little employment since then,” Davis said. “When this reorganization occurred, it was the middle of the pandemic, its not like you could just leave your 30 year career and go get another job. You’re looking at significant financial losses for a fairly significant amount of people.”

“Arbitrations are extremely expensive, I would assume between the cost of the legal team, the cost of the arbitrator, the managers in the room and everything like that, you’re at a signific number already and that’s before you even try to approach making anybody whole.”

In a statement, the City of Kamloops said it will review the options provided and work with the union and individual employees on the path forward.

“The City of Kamloops continues to support our Community Service Officers with the training and resources they need to serve Kamloops residents,” the statement said.

“The restructuring of this division and the enhanced training provided to our CSOs is reflective of and responsive to the significant changes we’ve seen in our community and the increased requirements put on municipalities to respond to these changes, particularly as it relates to crime and social disorder.”

As part of the 2023 supplemental budget, City Council voted to increase the contingent of CSOs to 30 full time equivalent (FTE) positions and four crew leaders by adding 6.7 FTEs while also converting 5.3 existing part-time FTEs into full-time positions.

Those increases are set to cost taxpayers about $880,000 a year for the next five years, with money going towards staffing costs, training, uniforms, and equipment.

“Recently, the Attorney General and the Ministry of Public Safety have expressed a keen interest in the City of Kamloops’ approach and our desire to attain Peace Officer status for our Officers, which is also a step towards a tiered policing model,” the City statement added.

“By taking this arbitration decision into consideration and working together to move forward, we hope to continue to provide an exceptional example of the efficacy of the CSO model.”

You can find Andrew Sims entire decision here.

Editors note – The yellow highlights in the decision were added by CUPE Local 900, who provided the document to Radio NL upon request.