Salary conflict a burning issue for Forrest, firefighters union

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/01/2018 (2882 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Could this be the end for Alex Forrest?

The ubiquitous president of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg is on the hot seat after it was revealed the city continues to pay 60 per cent of his $116,000 annual salary and related benefits — even though he works full-time for the union.

The unusual construct of his salary — and make no mistake, it is unusual — raises significant questions about his relationship with his employer and the firefighters he represents.

In simple terms, public-sector unions almost always pay the salaries and benefits of their full-time presidents and others who are seconded to work full time for the union. This holds true even if the president was a full-time public-sector employee. Typically, government continues to pay the president the same salary they earned before taking on union responsibilities, and the union repays government.

The reasons for this are fairly simple: the head of a public-sector union should be, in almost all respects, committed to the goals and interests of union members, without fear or favour. This is the principle applied by almost every other public-sector union. Unions representing nurses, police officers and general government workers all insist on paying the entire salary of its full-time presidents and other senior union officials so they can ensure there is no conflict of interest.

Forrest, for his part, has very little in the way of an explanation for being an outlier on this issue. In an exclusive interview with the Free Press, Forrest complained this story is only coming out now to discredit him and the UFFW in the lead up to this fall’s Winnipeg civic election. Forrest said he continues to draw salary from both the union and the City of Winnipeg because he sits on several civic committees and serves as an emergency response services liaison for the city in any negotiations with the province.

There are two problems with this explanation.

First, the city confirmed Forrest does not do any official work on behalf of the city. Second, the work he describes could easily fall under the umbrella of his duties as UFFW president.

Both city council and UFFW members should be concerned about this wholly insufficient response.

Forrest cannot do his job as union president while drawing some of his salary from the city. He insists he can serve two masters, but seems to miss the point it is not a matter of whether he can do the things he does, but whether he should.

In fact, this blind spot has defined much of Forrest’s public life. A firefighter who put himself through law school, Forrest has controlled the sometimes-influential UFFW for more than 20 years. In that time, he and his union have become players in politics at both the provincial and civic levels, endorsing candidates and parties while making grand and unabashedly obvious shows of support on the campaign trail.

Forrest was a lusty supporter for the New Democratic Party under former premier Gary Doer. Firefighters in bright yellow UFFW T-shirts became a regular sight during provincial election campaigns. UFFW members raised money, knocked on doors and helped get out the vote on election day.

What did the UFFW get for all its efforts?

The results are actually pretty hard to identify. In this most recent interview with the Free Press, Forrest once again noted his role in convincing the former NDP government to pass a law awarding disability pensions for certain kinds of cancer that have been linked to firefighting. That was a coup, at the time, and allowed Manitoba to claim a precedent for a benefit now available to firefighters across North America.

However, Forrest has been living on that one accomplishment for some time. Beyond that one victory, it is hard to see what his members have gotten from all his bombast and politicking. In recent elections, it certainly seems evident Forrest and the UFFW have outlived their usefulness for most parties and politicians.

The diminished influence is largely a result of the fact Forrest spread his support all over the political map. He would support right-leaning mayors and councillors at the civic level, and then throw the weight of his organization behind the left-leaning NDP at provincial election time.

UFFW politics became particularly messy in the lead up to the 2016 Manitoba election.

In 2014, Forrest suggested publicly his union would consider supporting the Progressive Conservatives. And yet, his public musings did not stop him and UFFW delegates from taking a major role in the 2016 NDP leadership convention, during which dissident cabinet minister Theresa Oswald nearly ousted then-premier Greg Selinger.

Forrest’s rather indiscriminate use of his endorsements — and his unpredictable nature — have created as many, or more, political enemies as they have allies. Perhaps that explains why his penultimate achievement as union president — disability benefits legislation — happened nearly 20 years ago.

Individual Winnipeg councillors have suggested it may be time to revisit Forrest’s unique contract with the UFFW, to see if its appropriate for the city to be making any contribution to a union president’s salary and benefits. Given the standard that has been established in other unions, if council does take another look at this arrangement, you can bet there will be changes.

Forrest has theorized this “attack” against him is largely the work of enemies of the UFFW trying to discredit the union so it cannot play a role in deciding the civic election this fall. Once again, Forrest is missing the point.

This is not an attack against the UFFW. It’s a direct challenge to the president of the UFFW, who has demonstrated on numerous occasions he is unpredictable to the point of being untrustworthy.

For more than two decades, Forrest has shown Winnipeggers, firefighters and citizens at large the full extend of what he can do. It may take someone else to finally show him what he should have been doing all along.

dan.lett@freepress.mb.ca