Union ‘dialogue’ underway: mayor

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This article was published 21/06/2018 (2132 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

By all accounts, 2018 has been a tumultuous year for the city and firefighters local, but Mayor Brian Bowman and United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg president Alex Forrest dismiss claims the relationship between the two parties is in any way strained.

A class of firefighter recruits, 15 strong, graduated into the Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service during a ceremony at the Metropolitan Entertainment Centre Friday afternoon. Guests of honour for the event included Bowman, Forrest and WFPS Chief John Lane, all of whom delivered speeches.

As the event got underway, Bowman and Lane could be seen sitting side by side, chatting in the front row. Meanwhile, a seat was left conspicuously empty between Forrest, the embattled union president, and Bowman, who recently moved to scrap Forrest’s widely unpopular and unusual salary deal.

But any insinuation that the empty seat was symbolic of icy relations between the city and firefighters union was dismissed by both Bowman and Forrest when approached by the Free Press following the event.

“The short answer is no (the relationship isn’t strained). We have a job to do at city hall. Council took steps yesterday that I think were in the best interest of taxpayers, as well as ensuring that direction is provided to our negotiators now that they’ll begin to have some discussions on that one provision in the collective agreement,” Bowman said.

The graduation ceremony came just one day after city council voted 14-1 in favour of Bowman’s motion seeking an end to the controversial practice that’s seen taxpayers footing the bill for most — and at times all — of Forrest’s salary and benefits during his 21-year stint as union president.

That vote gave city negotiators a mandate to approach Forrest and the union seeking to reopen talks regarding payment of his salary. The public service has 30 days from the start of those talks to update city council on what progress, if any, has been made.

“The relationship with the city and the union — you know, it’s business as usual. We’ve always had very good labour-management relationships. This is just one issue. I don’t see it impacting upon the overall success of the fire department or the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg,” Forrest said.

When asked if talks with city negotiators had started, Forrest said, “We don’t bargain in the media. We have told the department that we will meet with them and hear their concerns.”

Bowman, however, was a little less tight-lipped on the state of negotiations, saying Forrest himself told him an initial talk started the same day council voted in favour of his motion.

“Actually, Alex (Forrest) was just mentioning that the dialogue started yesterday. I hadn’t heard that from our staff yet, but I’m pleased to hear that. I think the sooner, the better. We ask that the public service report back to council within 30 days, so we’ll get an update the next month on the status of negotiations,” Bowman said.

If talks started on Thursday, then city negotiators have until July 21 to update council — and by extension the public — on the state of negotiations.

Bowman and Forrest’s recent squabble, over the interpretation of a newly discovered clause in the City of Winnipeg and United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg collective agreement, comes on the heels of an open letter to the mayor from the leaders of the four largest civic unions (including Forrest) alleging the city’s labour relations department was “in chaos” and “crisis.”

Nonetheless, Bowman made clear he disagreed with the claim the recent spat with the UFFW and the open letter indicated labour relations have soured during his administration.

“I’ve extended an invitation to those who wrote the letter, inviting them to come meet with me. We’ll meet at some point. I’m not sure if it’s in the calendar right now, but I extended an invitation to them to sit down, and let’s have a discussion on how we can continue to improve the relationship going forward,” Bowman said.

“I look to the fact that we were able to negotiate a number of collective agreements without needing to go to binding arbitration as a demonstration that both parties are working professionally and collaboratively for the citizens we serve.”

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @rk_thorpe