The non-proverbial shit hitting the proverbial fan

The firefighters and the city appear to have come to some sort of deal regarding their long running dispute over back pay.  That doesn't mean the settlement was amicable.

Union President Nick Felton was not satisfied with the administration’s offer. He said back pay should go back to 2010.

In offering his objection, Felton alleged a pattern of retaliation “from the second floor” of City Hall, home to the mayor’s offices, toward firefighters over this and a number of other disputes. Firefighters are also seeking tens of millions of dollars in unpaid pension contributions and required raises.

He pointed to an incident on Friday in which firefighters were brought in to assist the cleanup of a homeless encampment under the Pontchartrain Expressway. The operation came a few days after firefighters staged a mock funeral procession near City Hall to draw attention to the firefighters who have died while waiting for back pay they were owed.

Felton said firefighters were forced to clean up human waste even though the work is not part of their normal job requirements. In an interview, Felton said that removing firefighters from their companies to deal with the cleanup unnecessarily diminished the department’s ability to fight fires.