Arbitrator gives Boston firefighters 19 percent raise, mandates testing

By Donovan Slack and Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

Boston firefighters must accept random drug and alcohol testing and some limits on sick leave, and in return will receive a 19 percent raise over four years, a labor arbitrator has decided, officials with knowledge of the decision said today.

The raise is a significant pay bump that would dwarf the raises of other city unions over the same period.

The decision is something of a victory for the firefighters union, which had been asking for pay and benefits equivalent to a 21 percent raise, and puts the city of Boston, which had initially offered a 14 percent salary increase, in a precarious negotiating position with other unions, such as those representing teachers and police. Both got 14 percent raises in their contracts and now could demand another 5 percent. Many city labor contracts are up for renewal.

The arbitrator's decision ends a bitter contract dispute that had stalled for nearly three years over the drug and alcohol testing, which the city wanted but firefighters had resisted without getting a significant pay increase in return. The firefighters union endured significant criticism for its resistance after autopsy reports showed that two firefighters who died in a restaurant fire in August 2007 may have been impaired.