🔹let’s hear it for our local male nurses to get free parking too !! Victoria firefighters say giving up parking atop Johnson parkade for park, while firefighters need parking access, is bad governance🔹 More from the Victoria Firefighters Association: The Victoria Firefighters Association, IAFF Local 730, is speaking out after Victoria City Council voted to explore converting parking stalls atop the Johnson Street Parkade into a community garden, shortly after rejecting firefighter parking proposals and eliminating employer-provided parking for firefighters reporting to their downtown headquarters. After recently losing parking, Local 730 brought forward several practical solutions to address the issue. Every proposal was rejected. The Union subsequently filed a policy grievance with the employer, which was denied. “Our members are angry, and they have every right to be,” says Josh Montgomery, President of IAFF Local 730. “The City rejected practical solutions because dedicated firefighter parking was deemed an unreasonable use of public assets. Now we’re hearing there is excess parking capacity and that those same assets could be repurposed for garden plots. That contradiction speaks for itself.” Local 730 says the issue is about more than parking. “What began as a parking issue has now become one of respect for the members of Local 730,” says Montgomery. “Our members raised legitimate operational concerns, proposed practical solutions and were flat out told no. It’s hard not to conclude that those concerns were never taken seriously.” The Union notes that providing parking for firefighters reporting for duty or emergency call-ins is standard practice throughout North America. Firefighters responding to a call-in should be focused on getting into service, not searching for parking. Unlike most workers reporting to a single location for the day, firefighters are frequently reassigned between stations on short notice to maintain minimum staffing levels across the city. Being late by even a few minutes can leave an engine or truck temporarily browned out and unavailable for service. To the Union’s knowledge, Victoria is now the only fire department in Western Canada that does not provide parking for firefighters reporting to duty. “This isn’t a perk. It’s an operational requirement,” says Montgomery. “If there’s enough excess parking capacity to build garden beds, there should be enough parking to support all first responders who protect Victoria 24 hours a day.”
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