Union firefighters defy brownout
The three-year battle between Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and the city’s firefighters took a dramatic turn yesterday when union firefighters took up positions inside neighborhood firehouses in defiance of City Hall’s insistence that their presence there was illegal.
Union officials said they were “voluntarily staffing’’ companies in Dorchester, East Boston, and South Boston that the Menino administration had sought to temporarily close yesterday as part of a plan to cut down on overtime costs.
“We took an oath to protect the city,’’ declared Edward J. Kelly, president of Boston Firefighters Local 718. “And we’re willing to do it for nothing’’
City officials immediately dismissed the move, saying it was a ploy to distract from pension abuse in the Fire Department, chronic absenteeism, and other issues.
“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 that 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 situation,’’ he said. “Let’s not escalate this.’’
City officials sent a letter to Kelly yesterday 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 business-financed 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 firefighter’s 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. 