Without picketing, firefighters confront mayor

January 16, 2008 12:08 AM Email| Comments (0)| Text size – +

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

The Boston firefighters union backed off a threat to picket Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s State of the City speech Tuesday night, but the political feud between the union and the mayor continued to escalate.

The mayor used his annual address to say he was astounded by the union’s aggressive negotiating positions on key contract issues.

He cited the union’s unwillingness to accept random drug and alcohol testing, as well as its opposition to eliminating what he called “unethical personnel practices,” without winning a pay raise in return.

“These union leaders do not seem to realize what everyone in this city knows, that it is not right to ask for pay raises as a reward for putting a stop to these abuses of the public trust,” Menino said.

The mayor’s remarks drew applause, but some public officials in the audience refrained from responding.

The union, while canceling plans to picket the mayor’s speech at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester, held a press conference at which its leaders leveled charges at Menino’s administration.

The union said the city was “engaged in a plot” to interfere with a department’s investigation of the death of two firefighters in August.

“The city is trying to manipulate the independent report, thus revictimizing the families who have had to endure a horribly tragic event,” said Edward Kelly, president of Boston Firefighters Local 718.

Firefighters Paul Cahill and Warren Payne were killed in the fire Aug. 29 at a West Roxbury restaurant. Autopsy results showed that Cahill had a blood-alcohol content of 0.27, more than three times the legal limit to drive in Massachusetts, and that Payne had traces of cocaine in his system, said public officials who spoke to the Globe last year.

Kelly said the report, as it stands, gives no indication that Cahill and Payne were impaired by drugs or alcohol when they fought the fire.

He said he was concerned that the Menino administration would try to “conjure up” some claims of impairment. He cited draft changes the city’s legal department submitted to the Board of Inquiry.

The firefighters have been working without a contract for 18 months.

Tuesday’s exchange was the most public to date since the feud between City Hall and the union erupted last fall after the autopsy results became public.

Other concessions sought by the administration include tightening sick and injured leave and disability pension policies, which have skyrocketed in recent years.

On Monday, the state Department of Labor Relations agreed to begin a mediation process that if unsuccessful, could land the contract dispute in binding arbitration.

But the absence of pickets took some of the drama out of the fight.

Bill Gaylord and three other firefighters showed up at the mayor’s speech because they did not get word that the picketing had been canceled.

Gaylord said he wanted to know why city officials and the union did not iron out a new contract.

“It kills morale,” said Gaylord, a 23-year veteran firefighter.

The mayor also used Tuesday night’s speech to address school busing. Menino said he plans to redraw bus zones to save $10 million annually.

Megan Woolhouse of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.