Firefighters walk out of labor meeting

By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff

Firefighters union representatives stormed out of a state labor panel meeting today after the board refused to delay mediation of the Boston firefighters’ contract.

The contentious contract dispute, raging for well over a year, was taken up by the state Joint Labor-Management Committee last month and ordered to mediation. But today, after only one mediation session, the committee member representing firefighter unions asked the panel to put the mediation on hold until another state agency resolves a complaint about the negotiations, something that could take months.

When his request did not pass, Robert McCarthy, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, and several other labor representatives walked out the door of the committee's Beacon Hill office.

Without them, the committee lacked a quorum and could not continue the meeting.

It's unclear what effect the brouhaha will have on the mediation process. Boston firefighters Local 718 and the administration of Mayor Thomas M. Menino participated in mediation sessions on Feb. 27. Another session was expected to be scheduled during today's meeting but the committee never got to it.

One city watchdog who was at the meeting said the union representatives' actions demonstrated their desire to drag out negotiations instead of settling a contract.

"I think it's all part of a strategy to try to sort of delay and eventually prevail on issues," said Samuel R. Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a business-funded group that typically sides with management.

McCarthy did not return a call seeking comment. City labor officials could not be reached.

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.

• Comment
• Permalink
• Email