Montreal firefighters say not replacing retired workers could put the public at risk.
The union has launched an awareness campaign that 40 firefighting jobs are being cut in the New Year. Most of those affected are firefighters who are retiring and not being replaced.
The fire department has also decided to take two firetrucks off the road: one at station 39 in Hochelaga Maisonneuve, and a second at station 44 in Riviere des Prairies.
"It's a direct cut to the service to the population," said Chris Ross of the union. "I mean it's an immediate impact on our response times and on the territory coverage that we can give and the safety of the residents as well as the firefighters."
To spread the message the union has launched an awareness campaign with flyers informing the public of the employment changes.
"The trucks are removed from service. They're not going to be put into another station or to another community. They're literally removed from the map in the fire department," said Ross.
The fire department does not believe the public will be placed at risk by the changes.
It cites computer models showing no change in response time at the stations that will be affected.
"Response time will still be well within standards all through the island of Montreal even with the removal of these vehicles," said Richard Liebmann, Asst. Director of the Montreal fire department.
"Analyses were done very carefully before we made any of these decisions."
There are 2,400 firefighters in Montreal.
