Police union's picket line halts work on convention
Democrats move to end labor dispute
Democratic National Convention organizers were forced to shut down the start of FleetCenter construction yesterday after some construction workers and delivery trucks refused to cross a picket line led by Boston police officers outside the arena. More construction problems were expected today, as city and convention officials scrambled to cope with the unanticipated disruptions.
Several nationally prominent Democrats spoke by phone with local convention officials yesterday, plotting strategies for ending the labor problems. The chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terry McAuliffe, spoke with Mayor Thomas M. Menino, while John Sasso, Senator John F. Kerry's primary liaison to the DNC, called Jack Corrigan, Kerry's main convention planner. They spoke about making a push to settle the city's contracts with firefighters and the Service Employees International Union, according to Democratic Party officials. Such a move is seen as isolating the police union and blunting the impact of its picket line.
The calls by McAuliffe and Sasso were the first direct involvement by top party officials and the Kerry camp in the city's union negotiations.
The extent of yesterday's disruptions caught convention organizers off-guard. They had assumed that most members of the building and construction trade unions would cross the picket line without incident; refusal to cross was expected only from a union that represents
Instead, firefighters and service employees joined the picket line, and about half the 50 carpenters and other workers who were to begin construction yesterday, members of a local carpenters union and Laborers Local 133, chose to not cross. The workers who did show up entered the arena about 6:30 a.m., but trucks carrying lumber and other supplies halted short of the FleetCenter, as Teamsters refused to cross the picket line. FleetCenter workers who are members of SEIU Local 615 also honored the picket line. And with an angry crowd hurling insults at them, the workers who had entered the FleetCenter left after about four hours, having accomplished virtually no work.
"It's a tough situation," said Thomas Goemaat, president and chief executive of Shawmut Design and Construction, which is in charge of preparing the arena. "Some people chose to go work, and others did not. . . . We'll have to see how tomorrow goes."
One day's disruption won't jeopardize completion of convention preparations, organizers said. But work must begin within the next 24 to 48 hours if the conversion of the FleetCenter is to be completed by the July 26 start of the convention. Shawmut had hoped to have about 50 carpenters and laborers inside the building for a full day of work yesterday, removing seats and bringing in supplies. Goemaat said his company will try to get a crew in again today.
Menino accused members of the police union of blocking access to the FleetCenter, in violation of the terms under which a federal judge allowed the pickets to go forward last week. Menino said the city was considering going to court to force the picketers off the premises.
Leaders of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association said they complied fully with the limitations laid out in Judge Joseph Tauro's ruling. At one point yesterday morning, as a crowd surged to block the way of a Land Rover headed into the FleetCenter complex, union president Thomas J. Nee shooed them out of the vehicle's path.
The host committee had hoped to sign a project labor agreement yesterday with the Building and Construction Trades Council of the Metropolitan District, a pact that Menino and convention organizers had hoped would guarantee that work will get done at the FleetCenter. Yesterday's disruptions postponed the signing, convention officials said, adding that those agreements would not prevent indvidual union members from refusing to cross the picket line, as several teamsters, carpenters, and laborers did yesterday. Convention officials said they hope to sign the agreements later in the week.
Menino maintained that the arena will be ready when the convention begins and said support for the police picket line would dissipate over the next few days, as those charged with helping prepare the FleetCenter decide that the cause is not worth sacrificing paychecks.
"As we go forward, more and more building trades will go in," the mayor said. "They're taking bread off the table of many of the building trades who would be in that building, and they can't afford it. They have to take a paycheck home to their family also. Everyone else who is out there picketing is getting a day's pay."
Nee, the police union president, said he was overwhelmed by the hundreds of union members who showed up yesterday. He said they have the manpower to keep the pressure on Menino until a contract is settled.
"In the end, I'm dedicated to see this through," he said. "No level of fatigue will stop me. We're going to be here 24-7 until a contract is in place."
Coming off Monday night's overwhelming rejection of a no-strike guarantee by the Greater Boston Labor Council, an umbrella group consisting of most of Boston's major unions, a number of public unions presented a united front outside the FleetCenter. At one point, about 500 picketers ringed Causeway Street and arena entrances. The patrolmen's association was joined by firefighters, police superior officers, school janitors, and members of the Service Employees International Union.
With signs making clever use of DNC -- "Do Not Cross" and "Democrats Negotiate Contracts" -- and angry chants aimed at Menino, the crowds grew louder and more raucous when people attempted to cross the picket line early yesterday.
The signs and chants persuaded at least two truck drivers carrying lumber, floor-protecting sheet rock, and other supplies to turn around, and members of local laborers' and carpenters' unions also stayed away. Labor leaders predicted that they could keep convention preparations off-kilter for as long as they wish.
"This will gather momentum," said Robert B. McCarthy, president of Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts. "It's like your hand. You have five fingers when it's open, but when you close it, you have a fist. That's clout."
In his conversations with Democrats, Menino said he briefed McAuliffe on the labor situation, but told him that he remains unable to spend beyond the city's means. The mayor encouraged McAuliffe to "inject a sense of reason" in talks with the unions, and McAuliffe was amenable to helping in any way he can, according to a Menino aide.
Menino lashed out at leaders of the patrolmen's association, which on Monday rejected the city's offer of expedited arbitration. Yesterday, the city reached settlement with another of its bargaining units, representing 24 housing inspectors in the Inspectional Services Department.
"They think they're going to use this public pressure to embarrass the city," Menino said of leaders of the police union. "Why wouldn't you want to go [to arbitration]? That's the question that someone needs to answer. I'm willing to have my team sit at a table with their team and bring a third party in and make those evaluations."
Patrick Healey of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com. 