Unions aim ad at Democratic leaders

Boston's labor unions, locked in bitter contract disputes with the city, today will launch a national newspaper advertising campaign aimed at Democratic leaders who could pressure the administration of Mayor Thomas M. Menino to settle before the party's convention in July.

The $26,000 ad comes as the city reached an agreement on the first of 32 outstanding union contracts, with the Salaried Employees of North America, which represents more than 700 middle managers. The agreement is considered a small step in a process with much larger hurdles, including the powerful -- and vocal -- teachers and police unions. But city officials hailed it as a breakthrough that proves differences can be settled before this summer's Democratic National Convention, which unions have threatened to picket.

The quarter-page ad, to run in today's Washington Post, shows 10 city workers posed in front of the North End's Paul Revere statue and tells Democratic National Committee members to "heed this alarm by the people who keep our city running: We are united as never before."

Unions have focused on the convention as their best leverage in contentious negotiations with Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who has said the city can no longer afford the generous raises of the past. But Menino and national Democrats are anxious to avoid the embarrassing spectacle of messy labor protests on national television as they try to build momentum for their candidate.

"We're alerting the Democratic National Committee, whose members will wake up tomorrow in Washington and look at the ad that things aren't going well in Boston," said Boston Teachers Union president Richard Stutman. "We want to settle the contract, but we're not making progress. We're no closer than we were on Sept. 15. We're getting perilously close to the DNC without any signs of progress."

City officials said they won't be bullied into signing contracts they can't afford. "The mayor's take is we're going to work with any bargaining unit that is sincere and reasonable," said Dennis DiMarzio, the city's chief operating officer. "We'll do everything it takes. But we're not going to work with people who are not serious and are using delaying tactics."

DiMarzio wouldn't provide details of the SENA settlement, which still must be ratified by members. But he called the agreement "a very, very positive thing."

"This shows the city and unions can work hard and come to an agreement during this period," he said. "The proof is here, and it's a lesson for some of the others to abide."

He said he believes the city can settle relatively quickly with several unions, including the teachers union. The Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Association has also indicated it is close to settling. The Boston Police Patrolmen's union, he said, is another story. The city has asked a mediation board to assist those negotiations.

"They are one of the groups I believe has been playing this DNC delaying game and haven't been terribly sincere at the table," DiMarzio said.

Thomas J. Nee, president of the 1,400 member patrolmen's union, charged that the city has dragged its feet. "He's met with us only three times since last May," Nee said. "The only one to blame is the man in the bathroom mirror at Dennis DiMarzio's house."

If Democratic activists are disturbed at the prospect of a picket line at the convention, they haven't voiced their concerns to city officials, DiMarzio said.

"The mayor has been extremely consistent in saying he wants to get these contracts done," he said, "and as long as someone isn't trying to bankrupt the city we will get them done."