Jason Bouchard, president of the Ogdensburg Professional Firefighters, Local 1799, shared the letter publicly Friday.
âThe city has asked the Union forego decades of collective bargaining to save our jobs from elimination, a decision the city leaders themselves have made,â the letter from union members to Mr. Bouchard reads. âThe majority of these individuals voted to violate our contract before they ever came to us with one proposal to stop it. They have used the five of us as hostages, in an effort to bust our union, eliminate our manning, and destroy our legally binding contract. The type of negotiation the city manager and city has engaged in is strictly put, improper. The city simply issued a ransom note, as they issued layoff notices, blaming us. Please indicate that we note their efforts and we all voted a steadfast, NO, on the cityâs offer. Their goal to destroy our department is undeniable.â
December 14, 2020
Unsurprisingly,
perseverance was the theme of Campbell University’s Winter Commencement, a virtual ceremony “attended” by more than 1,600 students and their families on Friday.
Dr. David Hailey, for 24 years the pastor of Hayes Barton Baptist Church in Raleigh and Friday’s commencement speaker, told the 466 graduates that the challenges they’ve faced while finishing their degrees during a global pandemic will only prepare them for the challenges they’ll face in the years ahead.
“What can I say? Life is messy,” said Hailey, whose son David John Hailey is a two-time Campbell graduate. “Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce your way, and sometimes the cookie crumbles. The question is, ‘What do you do then?’ When everything falls apart, when the world tumbles around you, when your carefully scripted plans go rogue … do you just throw up your hands in exasperation and cry out, ‘What’s the use?’ Do you get angry, throw down your cards