Published On: September 15th, 2016
London city hall. (Free Press file photo)

London city hall. (Free Press file photo)

Cracks are subtly forming in London council’s resolve to push ahead with a contract fight, now six years old, with London firefighters.

It may not be fatal to city hall bureaucrats’ ongoing effort to rein in fire costs by pushing for near-unprecedented contract changes, but wavering support from their political bosses may further inflame an already-tense process.

“In case you’re wondering no one speaks for Mo except for Mo,” Ward 3 Coun. Mo Salih wrote on Twitter. “And if something doesn’t seem ‘Mo like’ chances are it ain’t Mo-approved.”

The tweet was interpreted by some as a rebuke by Salih of comments by city hall’s top bureaucrat, Art Zuidema, who this week told reporters council “is in the driver’s seat of making the key decision” on the matter.

Contacted by The Free Press, Salih didn’t deny that context.

“No one speaks for me,” he said. “My comment speaks for itself.”

Noting she has “a good relationship” and has “ongoing conversations” with members of the London Professional Fire Fighters Association, Coun. Virginia Ridley also offered a hint of discomfort as contract talks — already the longest in Canadian firefighting history — again ground to a halt.

“I have significant concerns that we have staff who are working without a current contract,” Ridley said Thursday, “and I would like to see this resolved as soon as possible.”

That appears unlikely.

London firefighters’ last contract expired in 2010. City hall is seeking several concessions — chiefly, the end of a policy that gives firefighters pay parity with police.

Officials with the firefighters association want emails and correspondence related to creation of an expert’s report on the city’s pay-parity argument. The arbitrator has ordered them handed over.

City hall doesn’t want to produce them, and is taking the matter to court to assess the “appropriateness” of the firefighters’ request, Zuidema said this week.

Source: Fire fight rift gains fuel | The London Free Press

Published On: September 15th, 2016 / Last Updated: July 14th, 2020 / Categories: Labour Issues / Tags: / Views: 483 /
Published On: September 15th, 2016
London city hall. (Free Press file photo)

London city hall. (Free Press file photo)

Cracks are subtly forming in London council’s resolve to push ahead with a contract fight, now six years old, with London firefighters.

It may not be fatal to city hall bureaucrats’ ongoing effort to rein in fire costs by pushing for near-unprecedented contract changes, but wavering support from their political bosses may further inflame an already-tense process.

“In case you’re wondering no one speaks for Mo except for Mo,” Ward 3 Coun. Mo Salih wrote on Twitter. “And if something doesn’t seem ‘Mo like’ chances are it ain’t Mo-approved.”

The tweet was interpreted by some as a rebuke by Salih of comments by city hall’s top bureaucrat, Art Zuidema, who this week told reporters council “is in the driver’s seat of making the key decision” on the matter.

Contacted by The Free Press, Salih didn’t deny that context.

“No one speaks for me,” he said. “My comment speaks for itself.”

Noting she has “a good relationship” and has “ongoing conversations” with members of the London Professional Fire Fighters Association, Coun. Virginia Ridley also offered a hint of discomfort as contract talks — already the longest in Canadian firefighting history — again ground to a halt.

“I have significant concerns that we have staff who are working without a current contract,” Ridley said Thursday, “and I would like to see this resolved as soon as possible.”

That appears unlikely.

London firefighters’ last contract expired in 2010. City hall is seeking several concessions — chiefly, the end of a policy that gives firefighters pay parity with police.

Officials with the firefighters association want emails and correspondence related to creation of an expert’s report on the city’s pay-parity argument. The arbitrator has ordered them handed over.

City hall doesn’t want to produce them, and is taking the matter to court to assess the “appropriateness” of the firefighters’ request, Zuidema said this week.

Source: Fire fight rift gains fuel | The London Free Press

Published On: September 15th, 2016 / Last Updated: July 14th, 2020 / Categories: Labour Issues / Tags: / Views: 483 /

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