A South African news agency, News24, is reporting that the 300 firefighters sent from their country to assist with the wildfires in Alberta have been asked by Canada to go home. The agency also reports that the firefighters are saying they will not leave until they receive the money they have been demanding.
Below is an excerpt from an article at News24:
Jenni Evans, News2
Cape Town – Canada has asked South Africa’s singing firefighters to go home after an internal pay dispute could not be resolved, Working on Fire said on Saturday.
”The Canadian government has asked us to get them out of Canada as soon as possible,” said Johan Heine, chairperson of the board of Working on Fire.
But Heine said the team has indicated that they will not leave until they receive confirmation that their pay demands will be met.
”They are demanding their money before they leave, and [that they] get confirmation that they get more money.”
”We all feel very terrible about it,” said Heine, who has been a firefighter for 30 years.
A Working on Fire management team arrived in Edmonton, Canada on Saturday morning and would travel with a South African embassy official to Alberta where they are based, to negotiate and pick a date for their return.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported online that Premier of Alberta, Rachel Notley promised to intervene.
CBS quoted Notley as saying that it was not acceptable to her and her government that they would have people working for wages in that do not align with their labour laws.
She said every firefighter from South Africa or anywhere else would be compensated “in accordance with our laws in this province.”
The Peninsula, a Qatar newspaper, has a similar report.
