Boston firefighters stage protests at firehouses

“This is a public relations stunt to try to embarrass the administration into doing what Ed Kelly wants, and that’s not what we’re here to do,” said Fire Commissioner Roderick J. Fraser Jr. “We’re here to run a department within our budget and provide for the safety of the city.”

The two sides have been locked in a bitter contract dispute. The latest salvo ratcheted up the battle from verbal brickbats and fiery press conferences to protests at city firehouses.

Kelly said five firefighters had shown up at each of the firehouses and would respond to blazes, defying warnings from city officials that their work would violate federal law and they could be held liable for injuries they sustained.

Still, the fire commissioner said he had no plans to evict his men from their engines and ladder trucks.

“Stay there, have a coffee and enjoy yourself all day but don’t do anything to put yourself in a [dangerous] situation,” he said. “Let’s not escalate this.”

City officials sent a letter to Kelly today saying that federal labor law prohibits paid employees from working without compensation. The law cannot be waived by the city or the union, the letter said.

Menino instituted the “brownout” plan, which calls for up to four companies to be closed on days when large numbers of firefighters call in sick. The Fire Department’s overtime costs topped $14.3 million last year, about $2 million over budget.

Fraser said the city has for years browned out companies when firefighters receive training, without union protests.

Jeffrey W. Conley, executive director of the Boston Finance Commission, a city watchdog agency, said Kelly was “unsuccessfully diverting attention” from his union’s problems.

“He says he wants to protect the public,” Conley said, “he should put on a firefighters’ uniform and get back on a truck.”

But Kelly was undeterred.

"The game they're playing is about people's lives, and that's repulsive to me," he said. "It's wrong."