Kerry cancels his speech to mayors

Senator John F. Kerry last night canceled a planned speech today to the US Conference of Mayors in Boston, saying that he would not cross picket lines erected by workers engaged in a contract dispute with the city.

The announcement came as picketing firefighters and police officers dogged Mayor Thomas M. Menino at conference events for the third straight day yesterday. They had planned to picket the speech this morning at the Sheraton Boston Hotel.

''I don't cross picket lines," Kerry said last night, shortly after attending Mass at St. Vincent's Waterfront Chapel. ''I never have."

The statement leaves open the question of what he will do if the contracts are not settled before next month's Democratic National Convention.

Menino, in a brief news conference after emerging from a Symphony Hall performance last night, said, ''I'm very disappointed. They should open the picket lines and let John Kerry in so that he can make the speech." In an interview afterward with the Globe, Menino said he had talked with Kerry about 10 p.m. and reiterated, ''I'm extremely disappointed in his decision."

He said he did not speak to Kerry about how he would handle picket lines at next month's convention.

Menino said earlier that he had spoken with Kerry on Saturday night and urged him to keep his long-scheduled engagement, saying that it was an important campaign opportunity to connect with mayors from across the country.

Kerry had held out announcing his decision for much of yesterday, avoiding reporters' questions during an afternoon bike ride around the Esplanade.

The standoff had put Kerry in a quandary: how to avoid offending Menino while also not angering union workers. The presumptive presidential nominee has courted labor support in his race against President Bush, and some of his most ardent supporters have been firefighters.

Kerry's senior colleague, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, canceled his appearance at the conference last week, citing a scheduling conflict. But union officials were quick to take credit for the cancellation, saying that Kennedy knows how to treat labor.

Menino has called the protests informational lines, not picket lines, and said the police and firefighters are not engaged in an actual strike.

''In labor terms, Kerry is not being picketed," said Kerry spokesman Michael Meehan, ''but they're holding an informational picket line, and so Kerry will not be crossing any picket lines."

''Crossing a picket line is something John Kerry is not prepared to do," Meehan said. ''We had held out hopes they would have reached a resolution by now. We know both sides were working in good faith."

Last night, police officers and firefighters celebrated outside Symphony Hall, blowing horns and waving signs that read, ''Our raises are paying for Tom's party," while mayors from across the country listened to the Boston Pops perform inside.

''Basically, what we're saying and what we have been saying is just give us what every other union has," said Jim Barry, legislative agent for the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association.

The patrolmen said they have been asking for a 16 percent raise over four years, while the city has offered 11.9 percent.

Firefighters union president Nick DiMarino declined to say what firefighters are asking from the city but said that the union would not negotiate until its lawyer returns from vacation next weekend.

Dennis A. DiMarzio, Boston's chief operating officer, said the city has offered firefighters raises comparable with those accepted by Boston teachers earlier this year, a little more than 9 percent over three years.

''They're worried that the cops are going to do better, and they wanted to sit back and wait," DiMarzio said.

''We want to sit down at the table with them, but they can't do it because their lawyer's not in town," said Menino. ''We were close to agreement a month ago."

In a show of solidarity at the conference yesterday, some mayors patted Menino on the back and shook his hand, many telling him they had encountered similar problems with unions in their cities.

But few said they had endured the kind of demonstrations that Menino has seen in recent days, including one Saturday when unions rented a yacht and cruised back and forth in front of an event at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.

''I think all of us as mayors have had our moments with police unions, but this is extraordinary," Mayor Rocky Anderson of Salt Lake City said. ''I have not seen the extortion rise to this level, ever. It's offensive to everybody."

Anderson said a police union in Salt Lake City tried to use the international stage of the 2002 Winter Olympics as extra bargaining leverage, threatening to strike in the lead-up to the games. Anderson said he worked out a contract before the Olympics, bypassing the union president to negotiate with other union representatives.

''Taxpayers need to understand that when mayors like Tom Menino remain firm and don't back down, they are serving the entire community," he said. ''I think the taxpayers would be getting absolutely hosed if the mayor agreed to their demands."

At issue for Kerry, strategists say, is the picketing by firefighters. The patrolmen's association endorsed George H. W. Bush for president in 1988, despite the local credentials of his opponent, Governor Michael Dukakis. But The International Association of Fire Fighters was one of the first unions to endorse Kerry, and its members have been strong supporters.

''There are firefighters showing up in almost every other state Kerry's traveling to," said Michael Feldman, a Democratic strategist and former senior adviser to Vice President Al Gore. ''In my knowledge, he's never crossed an active picket line, and I can't imagine he would start now."

While Kerry spent the weekend in Boston, he ventured out of his house only a handful of times, once Saturday night to watch ''The Terminal" at the Loews cinema overlooking Boston Common, and then a few times yesterday, to ride his bicycle, to get some fresh air, and to attend Mass. When he spotted reporters staking out his home in Louisburg Square earlier in the day, he reached down, tied his shoes, and went back inside.

On Saturday, Kerry's aides had said the senator would not speak at the conference because he would ''never cross a picket line." Later they backed off that statement, saying no final decision had been made. Kerry is due in Baltimore tonight for a fund-raiser.

Menino had been holding out hope that Kerry would show up at today's event, saying it is an important opportunity for the presidential candidate to talk to hundreds of local politicians about their concerns.

''A lot of the mayors are disappointed," he said.

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick said voters in his swing state will be ill-served by Kerry's cancellation.

''I'm extremely disappointed, and I'm leaning toward being angry," he said.

''It's not a leadership move. Mayors are here from all over the country. If we don't get that message [from Kerry], how are we going to take it back to our constituents? We can't just be anti-Bush. I would hope that he'd reconsider. To mobilize voters in our city, we have to hear directly from Kerry."

Globe correspondent Martha Bartle contributed to this report. Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com. Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com