Fire union talks may go to arbitration

A state labor panel said yesterday that the contentious contract dispute between the city of Boston and its firefighters has gone on long enough, ruling that it will be sent to arbitration unless it is resolved.

Aides to Mayor Thomas M. Menino said the Joint Labor-Management Committee's decision - authorizing arbitration but stopping short of sending it to an arbitrator, a kind of final warning - was a victory for taxpayers. Union representatives said the mediation process had been thwarted.

The committee did not set a deadline for resolution of the contract talks, which are mired in disagreements over salary, random drug and alcohol testing, and disability pension rules. Samuel E. Zoll, chairman of the committee, said he had met a half-dozen times with each side in a bid to broker a settlement.

"It could not be done," Zoll said. "I'm not proud of that."

Robert McCarthy, president of Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts and the lead union negotiator with a seat on the joint committee, contended that Zoll had compromised the panel's neutrality. He said the state union, of which Boston Firefighters Local 718 is a member, would seek state legislation to establish an alternative to the Joint Labor-Management Committee for resolving labor disputes.

Ed Kelly, Boston firefighters union president, said the union had been denied "due process" by the committee.

"Local 718 has made every effort to bring conclusion to this drawn-out process, but Mayor Menino refuses to negotiate and continues to bully us into an arbitration process," Kelly said.

Without any deadline set by the committee, the sides will continue meeting with a mediator. The committee will meet again to determine whether drug and alcohol testing will be included in the list of issues if arbitration is ultimately triggered.

"This is a positive step forward for the taxpayers and the City of Boston in resolving this dispute," said Dot Joyce, Menino's spokeswoman.

The Menino administration asked for the drug and alcohol testing after a fire killed two firefighters last summer. Leaked autopsy results for the two men revealed that one had high blood-alcohol levels and the other had traces of cocaine in his system.

Union representatives insist they are not opposed to such testing, but say they want concessions from the city in exchange for it.

John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.