Wildland Firefighters Speak Out About Their Conditions and Demands
Alberta wildland fire
fighters, Alberta, August 7, 2023
TML Monthly spoke with Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) Vice-President James Gault about the conditions, challenges and demands of the wildland firefighters represented by AUPE. AUPE is currently in negotiations for a new collective agreement for the firefighters as well as tens of thousands of other workers. Some key issues which are all linked are wages acceptable to the workers and which recognize their tremendous value, and health and safety issues including the lack of sick pay and presumptive workers' compensation coverage for workplace illnesses, and recruitment and retention. He also raised the utter failure of the UCP government to be prepared for this year's wildfire season.
"By April 15, we should have been ready and it will not be ready until May 15. And last year by May 6, we were already in a state of emergency in this province. We've already dealt with three grass fires. This is a very dry province... we are in a drought province right now. We have fires burning underground. We need wildland firefighters. We need trained staff now. We are not going to get it if we just consider them an expendable group.
"The wildland workers often get a little bit of training, work a season and then they don't come back. Instead of people with four and five years experience, we have people with one or two years experience leading brand new crews of 20 people into these wildfires. And so we're talking about health and safety issues, basic safety and lack of experience to deal with these fires," Gault said.
"The government conducts speed interviews, then provides a 10-day training course in Hinton. It's adequate enough to get people fighting fires, but what you need in any job, you learn when you've been there for a while -- you get hunches, you get the pickup, you get to understand the role a lot better, you are more effective, more efficient, you're a lot faster, and you deal with issues quicker. That's what we're lacking here. We're constantly putting in brand new people. And that's a lot of work for somebody with a little bit of experience to have 18 or 19 other people with no experience. You're responsible for that crew. You are trying to control those fires. And when they start burning, you are at the mercy of Mother Nature and one change in the wind, and everyone feels it," Gault explained.
Another important demand is for presumptive workers' compensation coverage for cancer and heart disease. Urban firefighters fought hard for recognition that cancer was a job-related illness, but wildland firefighters do not have presumptive coverage, which means they have to try and prove their illness was job related.
"So they're out there fighting these fires. We know that wildfire smoke causes cancer, and they're not covered....There was a study that just came out that said some of the worst air quality in the country was within Alberta due to the wildfires. So with this kind of information, why is the government choosing to allow presumptive workers' compensation for municipal firefighters, but not the wildland firefighters who are in the middle of fire and smoke for 10- to 14-day tours? I have no idea except for the fact that when you hear Minister Loewen, when he's speaking, he's always talking about 'they're just seasonal,' you know, that 'they're only here for that short period of time.' He does not believe Alberta would want any type of permanent firefighters. And it really gives you the sense that they're pretty much an expendable group of students in the eyes of the government who just come in, fight fires and leave," Gault said.
He explained that another important demand is that wildland firefighters also need to have paid sick time.
"Government ministers speak about the firefighters getting lots of work or hours during the season. The firefighters work a lot of overtime. That's how you're making money. When they get sick, there's no basic benefits for them. They're still sleeping in the tent, within the camp, where the fire is, they're just not able to work. So they're not even collecting those hours, so that forces them to get up. I mean, your coworkers are out fighting a fire every day and you're in the tent, not feeling well. You are not getting paid for that day. You are not getting your overtime that you are going to need at the end of the season, so they feel obligated to go work and that's when people get sick in the camp. And it's not the fault of the wildland firefighters. It's the fault of the government for not providing an environment where there are benefits that they can use. They are willing to fight the fires. They just want to be respected by the government."
Gault also spoke about the practice of having a small seasonal crew and relying on firefighters from across Canada and around the world.
"The government has agreed to put an extra $55 million over the next three years. But they're allowing a $2 billion contingency fund. They use that contingency fund after the fires are out of control so they can bring other people from around the world. It takes three to five days to get a crew here.
"When Minister Loewen was asked about these issues, it's like, people can just come here and fight fires. There's a lack of regard with this government on how it treats public sector workers, and not to go off on a tangent, but even Finance Minister Horner said recently he is thinking that public servants don't deserve more than 7.5 per cent over four years. They're telling the people who serve Albertans you're just not worth it."
"The Minister of Forestry said he will be opening up lookout towers. I think it will be about 20. But he's only going to be opening those towers when there's already fire or a notice of a possibility of fire, not ahead of time, which proved critical in the past. When it comes to the Rappel Program, they have said no, they've been asked outright, they've said no, they could get them from BC, forgetting that this whole country is a tinderbox for forest fires, and they have their own fires right now." In the Rappel Program, also known as the Helitack-Rappel Progam, firefighters rappel out of helicopters directly into remote areas of the province to fight fires.
In conclusion, Gault emphasized the importance of health and safety, and the mental health of the workers: "They need to know that Albertans support them. Some of them are fairly young. We take university students, and they're away from home with all those different things that go with it. But they need to know that Albertans support them. They don't need somebody like the Minister saying things to the effect that they value the public service, but they don't see publicly funded employees getting the same kind of settlement that they get in other places in Canada. These are young people who are fighting fires to protect us. And we need to be very, very cognizant of the importance of the work that they do."
This article was published in
Volume 54 Number 3 - April 2024
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2024/Articles/M540033.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca