SAINT JOHN, N.B.- Saint John Mayor Mel Norton continues to have strong words for the local firefighters union following a recent arbitration board decision.

The city still hasn’t released the financial implication of the decision which will see most firefighters receive a 12 percent wage increase over the next four years.

Norton tells “McLean in the Morning” the union’s approach is unfair and wrong headed. “I think that the union of that fire department has to ask itself the question is it going to compromise the interest of its younger members, is it going to sacrifice their futures for the benefit of the older members to get more in the way of dollars”, says Norton.

Norton says he is also concerned about a possible bias with respect to the arbitration board.

He says one board member belongs to the Fredericton Fire Department and one of the comparators in the decision was the Fredericton Fire Department.