Alex Forrest will remain the president of the union representing Winnipeg firefighters despite enduring heat over his taxpayer-funded salary.

Members of the United Fire Fighters of Winnipeg Local 867 acclaimed Forrest as their leader Monday at a general meeting held at the Masonic Temple in Osborne Village.

The acclamation means Forrest will begin his 11th consecutive term — and 22nd year — as UFFW president.

Forrest said following the meeting he decided to seek another term after receiving hundreds of messages of support "from firefighters around the world" over the next two weeks.

In January, CBC News reported the City of Winnipeg has been paying for two-thirds of his salary and benefits. This led to criticism from several city councillors, Mayor Brian Bowman and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

On Monday, Forrest repeated his claim the controversy was a political fabrication.

"I think a lot of the media was angled to get someone from the organization to run against me, but we're a very close-knit organization," he told CBC News in an interview at the Masonic Temple.

He also defended the collective bargaining agreement, which included his salary and benefit provisions.

"The City of Winnipeg is a very sophisticated corporation. They have not just a lawyer, they have a legal team," he said of the negotiated settlement. "In 2014 and 2017, it was unanimously supported by the city. It was a win-win situation for the city and the union as well."

Forrest said if the city wishes to remove the provision from the next collective bargaining agreement, that will be subject to negotiations.

​Forrest also vowed to continue to campaign in favour of firefighter-friendly candidates in upcoming elections, including this October's municipal election in Winnipeg.

"That's who we are as an organization. We are very politically active," he said.

More immediately, he vowed to get involved in the city's plan to upload ambulance service to the province. A funding dispute with the province has led the city to study the idea of stepping away from a service that city council finance chair Scott Gillingham (St. James-Brooklands-Weston) sees as a provincial responsibility.​

Following Forrest's acclamation, UFFW president Tom Bilous released a letter to the union membership, decrying "the recent distasteful, prolonged media attacks" against the union president.

"The nearly two dozen stories over a three-week period have caused us much grief, both professionally and personally," Bilous wrote as part of a four-page defence of Forrest.

"Active and retired Winnipeg fire fighters don't need to be told about our reputations by the media. Our reputations are in the faces and eyes of positive patient outcomes, rescued fire survivors and Winnipeggers who have witnessed us do whatever we can."