Published On: January 1st, 2017

London city hall: Retiring union boss slams two city officials as ‘chief culprits’ in ‘ruining city hall’

A video shows John Hassan shredding his congratulation note from the city on his retirement.

(Courtesy of London Free Press, A video shows John Hassan shredding his congratulation note from the city on his retirement.)

A former leader of the London firefighters union has entered retirement in a blaze of glory.

In another sign of the strained relationship between city hall and the London Professional Fire Fighters Association, the LPFFA’s ex-president has just retired — but not before firing a parting shot at two top city officials amid contract talks that have now reached seven years.

“Lately, the question has been asked, who’s running city hall? I think a more appropriate question is, who’s ruining city hall?” John Hassan says in a video posted to Twitter.

He then flashes a card thanking him for his “years of service” to the city. It’s signed by city manager Art Zuidema and the HR boss, Veronica McAlea Major.

“In my opinion, these are the two chief culprits and they won’t be missed by me. In fact, they’re probably two of the top reasons I took a retirement six years before I needed to.”

Then, the normally affable Hassan tosses the card into a paper shredder: “So out with the old and in with the new.”

Through a spokesperson, Zuidema and McAlea Major declined comment Thursday.

The LPFFA has been working under an expired contract since 2010, and it and the city remain mired in the longest contract talks in Canadian firefighting history. For much of that time, Hassan was president of the LPFFA. He stepped away from those duties about a year ago and has now retired after 27 years of firefighting.

The talks are now in arbitration. City officials have dropped a legal objection, allowing the hearings to resume this month.

At issue in the negotiations is the need to introduce what city officials have called “greater flexibility” and affordability in how firefighters are paid. For example, the city believes other employee groups — such as outside workers — should be used as the salary comparator, not police.

The city also wants to outsource fire dispatch, which by itself would save taxpayers more than $1 million annually.

While there is some political resistance to the city’s push — and the firefighters have become more outspoken in recent months — there’s certainly support for city hall among taxpayers who’ve grown tired of seeing scores of firefighters named annually on the so-called “sunshine list” of public employees making $100,000 or more.

[email protected]

twitter.com/patatLFPress 

Source: Ex-firefighter shreds city | The London Free Press

Published On: January 1st, 2017 / Last Updated: July 14th, 2020 / Categories: Labour Issues / Tags: / Views: 666 /
Published On: January 1st, 2017

London city hall: Retiring union boss slams two city officials as ‘chief culprits’ in ‘ruining city hall’

A video shows John Hassan shredding his congratulation note from the city on his retirement.

(Courtesy of London Free Press, A video shows John Hassan shredding his congratulation note from the city on his retirement.)

A former leader of the London firefighters union has entered retirement in a blaze of glory.

In another sign of the strained relationship between city hall and the London Professional Fire Fighters Association, the LPFFA’s ex-president has just retired — but not before firing a parting shot at two top city officials amid contract talks that have now reached seven years.

“Lately, the question has been asked, who’s running city hall? I think a more appropriate question is, who’s ruining city hall?” John Hassan says in a video posted to Twitter.

He then flashes a card thanking him for his “years of service” to the city. It’s signed by city manager Art Zuidema and the HR boss, Veronica McAlea Major.

“In my opinion, these are the two chief culprits and they won’t be missed by me. In fact, they’re probably two of the top reasons I took a retirement six years before I needed to.”

Then, the normally affable Hassan tosses the card into a paper shredder: “So out with the old and in with the new.”

Through a spokesperson, Zuidema and McAlea Major declined comment Thursday.

The LPFFA has been working under an expired contract since 2010, and it and the city remain mired in the longest contract talks in Canadian firefighting history. For much of that time, Hassan was president of the LPFFA. He stepped away from those duties about a year ago and has now retired after 27 years of firefighting.

The talks are now in arbitration. City officials have dropped a legal objection, allowing the hearings to resume this month.

At issue in the negotiations is the need to introduce what city officials have called “greater flexibility” and affordability in how firefighters are paid. For example, the city believes other employee groups — such as outside workers — should be used as the salary comparator, not police.

The city also wants to outsource fire dispatch, which by itself would save taxpayers more than $1 million annually.

While there is some political resistance to the city’s push — and the firefighters have become more outspoken in recent months — there’s certainly support for city hall among taxpayers who’ve grown tired of seeing scores of firefighters named annually on the so-called “sunshine list” of public employees making $100,000 or more.

[email protected]

twitter.com/patatLFPress 

Source: Ex-firefighter shreds city | The London Free Press

Published On: January 1st, 2017 / Last Updated: July 14th, 2020 / Categories: Labour Issues / Tags: / Views: 666 /

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