Angry over loss of details, police protest at MWRA work sites

(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff)

The picketers held signs on Tremont Street in Everett.

By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff

State water workers vacated two work sites today after crowds of police union members showed up to protest Governor Deval Patrick's new rules allowing some roadway projects to proceed without police details.

A Massachusetts Water Resources Authority crew planning to do routine sewage work in a manhole in an Everett roadway decided to leave after some 30 police union protesters appeared with signs and said they would prefer the crew not go ahead without a paid police detail. The crew then went to another roadway work site in Revere, where protesters also appeared. One of the protesters, Revere Police Captain James Guido, told MWRA Chief Operating Officer Mike Hornbrook that the work site was a traffic hazard and that it was unsafe.

"I can't allow you to work here,'' Guido said. The four-man crew eventually departed.

The confrontations were the latest twist in a highly charged debate over police details that has raged for years and recently escalated when Patrick ruled the state would save millions by cutting back on the number of construction sites requiring police supervision. The rule changes have been bitterly opposed by police, many of whom supplement their incomes with tens of thousands of dollars annually by keeping watch over and directing traffic at construction sites.

MWRA officials said they carefully reviewed the new guidelines before sending out the crew, believed to be the first to work under the new rules that went into effect today. The new rules don't require flaggers or police details at low-traffic, low-speed residential work sites, such as the ones where the crews yesterday tried to work. But Guido, whose police responsibilities include making sure all work sites in Revere meet municipal safety standards, said the work would disrupt traffic.

Police unions have long tangled with administrations that tried to pry the sacred perk away and in the past have prevailed. In 1992, Governor William F. Weld proposed replacing police details with civilian flaggers, but after hundreds of police officers picketed the Statehouse, Weld scrapped the idea. Through the years, lobbying efforts have enabled police unions to hold onto the roadway details, which had paid as much as $40 dollars an hour to state troopers.

But several months ago, Patrick, looking for ways to save scarce tax dollars, started backing the effort to use civilian flaggers rather than police details, saying the practice would not diminish public safety and would save the Commonwealth millions. On April 17, Patrick signed legislation authorizing the Executive Office of Transportation to craft regulations on the use of flaggers at roadwork sites.

The new policy requires police details at the most dangerous roadway sites and civilian flaggers at some others. The least dangerous sites are not required to have either details or flaggers. The policy will mean annual savings to the state of between $5.7 million and $7.2 million, according to administration estimates.

Police union officials -- raging over what they say was unfair treatment during the administration's drafting of the law -- said they are planning more pickets at state construction projects.

"There was no compromise; it was a one-way deal, a wrong deal that doesn't save any money," Guido said of the administration's drafting of the rule. Guido said that civilian flaggers will not be as quick as police to react to accidents or other public safety issues in and around roadwork sites.

Next week, MassHighway is scheduled to begin using civilian flaggers at roadwork sites throughout the state, said MassHighway Commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky.

"MassHighway is committed to implementing Governor Patrick's civilian flagger program promptly and safely and we will have flaggers on certain projects that have been deemed safe this Tuesday," Paiewonsky said.

She said the agency has trained some 100 employees to be flaggers and certified 14 trainers.

Kyle Sullivan, spokesman for Patrick, said the administration intends to hold firm on its commitment to the new rules. "We are confident these reforms will be implemented successfully and that the Commonwealth will realize significant savings,'' he said.

The new regulations will place civilian flaggers on nearly all state roads where the speed limit is below 45 miles per hour, and on low-traffic roads where the speed limit is higher. Civilians would also be used at sites where barriers are used to block off construction sites on a high-speed, high-traffic road. On high-traffic roads with speed limits of 45 and above, police officers would still be used.

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