El Segundo Firefighters’ Union engaged in heavy-handed politics against fire chiefs

The El Segundo Firefighters Union engaged in heavy-handed politics against fire chiefs, including “votes of no confidence”

http://articles.latimes.com/1994-01-27/news/cb-15787_1_el-segundo

Los Angeles Times

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El Segundo

Fire Chief Sloan Says He Will Retire in April

January 27, 1994

El Segundo Fire Chief David Sloan will retire April 15 and take a job in the private sector, he said last week.

Sloan, 55, said his retirement is not related to a no-confidence vote from El Segundo firefighters last fall.

“I had originally planned to leave after five years, and it will be five years next month,” said Sloan, who plans to work with his son, a real estate appraiser in Seal Beach.

Sloan, who came to El Segundo after 29 years in the Los Angeles Fire Department, believes he has improved fire service in the city.

He pointed to his accomplishments, including ordering three state-of-the-art fire engines, creating a position for an environmental safety officer and streamlining the way the department checks building plans.

But firefighters accused him of being a “totalitarian” who did not listen to them, and indicated that they had no confidence in his management style in a September vote.

Notes by Michael D. Robbins

Whenever a labor union or an employee association (which is just another name for a labor union) announces they have had a “no confidence” vote against one or more managers or elected officials, it should be considered to be a dishonest and meaningless coercive union tactic to apply pressure and gain an advantage or get away with something improper until proven otherwise. “No confidence” votes are standard operating procedure for labor union bosses, and often mean that the management and elected officials are doing their job to try to control the inherent excessive union labor costs and inefficiencies.