Some say it's a question of saving money versus saving lives.

The City of London is floating the idea of contracting out emergency dispatch services for the fire department.

Lawyers told a contract arbitration hearing on Monday the move could save taxpayers big money.

But firefighters argue it puts lives at risk and that cheaper doesn't mean safer.

"When people dial 911, they don't want to be at the mercy of someone trying to make a buck. I think they want to make sure they try to get the best possible service as quickly as possible, and that's what we do, and that's what our dispatchers do," says John Hassan, president of the London Professional Firefighters Association.

The city presented its submission to the contract arbitration hearing with the Firefighters Association.

Lawyer John Saunders says according to a paid consultant, the city can save about $1.5 million per year if allowed to outsource fire dispatch.

"They've conducted a survey and they've identified that there are a number of other willing companies, both private and public sector, who would welcome the opportunity to bid on an RFP to deliver the dispatch services to the city."

The city is proposing two other major organizational changes it says will save money.

The first change would be in mechanical, or the people who fix the fire trucks when they break down. The second is in plant examinations, these are the fire officials who go into new buildings and make sure they're being built up to fire code.

The city says these jobs can be taken out of fire services and be done by existing city departments instead.

"It would be somewhere in the nature of $15,000-20,000 per individual, in terms of that, so it's a substantial savings," adds Saunders.

But Hassan fires back.

"If you don't get garbage pickup until later in the day it's inconvenient, but it's not life-changing. A firetruck not able to get on the road because it's got some type of mechanical issue impacts an entire city," says Hassan.

As far as salary increases, firefighters are asking for about 12 per cent over four years, so the salary for a first-class firefighter would go from about $80,000 to $90,000 per year.

The collective agreement would be retroactive to January 2011.