Negotiations could spark PR fight

Contract talks between Toronto police board, union haven't gone to arbitration in 15 years

- WENDY GILLIS

Negotiations for a new Toronto Police Association contract have broken down, sending the city’s police board and the union representing rank-and-file officers to arbitration — and a probable “public relations war.”

Announced in a union statement this week that heaped blame on the mayor and bargaining committee, the development comes after eight months of negotiation to renew a contract that expired last December — a 2019 agreement that saw officers offered a bigger raise than other city workers.

In a public statement — which individually named the seven members of the board’s bargaining committee — union president Jon Reid said Thursday the board’s “unwillingness” to agree to a fair deal “reflects both their inexperience and their lack of respect for the work our members do every day.”

The union’s key concern: salaries it says would leave cops in Canada’s largest city taking home less money than counterparts in smaller cities.

“The (board’s) final position made reaching a negotiated agreement impossible. We believe this is a direct result of the board’s bargaining committee and Mayor Olivia Chow’s refusal to agree to the collective agreements that our members deserve,” Reid said on X, noting it had been more than 15 years since contract negotiations went to arbitration.

On Friday, neither Chow nor the police board directly responded to Reid’s comments, with the mayor’s spokesperson saying, “The mayor respects the bargaining process.”

The contract impasse will mark the latest spat between the union and Chow, and could bring the return of an aggressive, campaign style battle over cop salaries — all while the city faces continued pressure to reduce the police force’s billion-dollar budget. “It’s obviously going to involve a public relations war now between the union and the political leadership,” said Michael Kempa, a University of Ottawa criminologist who focuses on public safety and policing.