Montreal firefighters win court ruling in pension fight with government

The union representingMontrealfirefighters haswon what it calls a major Quebec Superior Court ruling on early retirement that will save affected members more than $100,000 each.

The ruling allows 35 firefighters who opted for early retirementto take it without falling under the provisions of reforms instituted by the Quebec government.

The union arguedits membershad until the day the government tabled Bill 3 onJune 12, 2014 to declare their retirement.

The government argued that if it wanted to allow firefighters to retire up untilJune 12, it would have written the law that way.

The law should not be opened up to interpretation, the government said.

In his ruling, Justice Michel Yergeau ruled in favour of the firefighters.

He wrote that if the goal of the law was to deprive pension planparticipants of the right to retire by a certain date, the government should have written it that way.

The president of the firefighters union, Ronald Martin, saidthe ruling meanssavingsof more than $100,000 for the 35 firefighters.

"It's estimated at $100,000per fireman because [under the reforms]we double our contributionsfor the pension plan, we reduce our rights, we have to pay a deficit for $20 million," Martin said.

The government was also ordered to assume the legal costs of the firefighters union.

Martin saidthe court case challenging the constitutionality of the pension plan reform will continue.