“The minister is confident that the matter can be resolved in a mutually satisfactory manner allowing the firefighters to be demobilised and return safely back to South Africa”.
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“I can say right now that every hour that every firefighter from South Africa or anywhere else has worked on these fires will be compensated in accordance with our laws in this province”, she said.
The firefighters arrived in Edmonton May 29 to a hero’s welcome, with people cheering for them and personally thanking them for coming.
“We all feel very awful about it, ” said Heine, who has been a firefighter for 30 years.
– A mediator from Working on Fire has been sent to Canada by Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa to assist in resolving the pay dispute involving a team of firefighters, the ministry said Sunday.
There was none of that jubilation yesterday as the South Africans refused to work as a result of a pay dispute.
“Our senior management team are arriving in Alberta in a few hours”, he said.
Labour economist, Bukani Mngoma, says if the firefighters were briefed about what the Canadian government was paying for them, they could have raised the issue when handed their contracts. The news service quoted Notley as saying it was unacceptable to her and her government that the South African workers were receiving wages that did not align with their labor laws. The firefighters went after a tender by the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
The $50 per day pay that Moseki and his colleagues agreed to is broken down into two separate payments: $15 a day while in Canada and $35 per day upon their return to South Africa.
The South Africans would have been paid their agreed amounts for every day that they were on the mercy mission, including their travel days, preparation days once there, and their rest days.
“They have gone to the media and tell the media that they are going to pay us $21 per hour”, Moseki said.
The team, which is from marginalised communities, have been trained in fire prevention and suppression, first aid, carpentry and health and safety, among others.
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She said any future contracts with agencies outside Alberta’s jurisdiction will be reviewed to ensure they comply. “This implementation plan will be done in consultation with WoF firefighters”. “That’s what their culture is all about, I think”.
