City, firefighters reach agreement ‘in principle’

The City of Boston and firefighter union officials last night were finalizing a contract settlement that would avert the prospect of pickets at tonight's delegation parties, a big breakthrough in the labor unrest that has plagued convention planners in the final frenzied weeks before the Democratic Party gathering.

As of midnight, the two sides came to an agreement "in principle" that they were planning to put in writing at 9 a.m. today. Details were not immediately available, but a firefighters union official said the pact would roughly mirror the financial package given to Boston's police unions last week.

The stakes were high for the city and the Democratic Party since firefighters and police officers had threatened to protest at tonight's parties if no contract had been signed, and many delegates had pledged to stay away if they did. The talks had broken off yesterday afternoon, with both sides saying they saw little chance for progress.

But informal talks continued among negotiators from both sides by telephone, even as Mayor Thomas M. Menino welcomed thousands of out-of-town media members at an evening reception at the new convention center in South Boston. National Democratic Party officials and Senator John F. Kerry's campaign were informed of the impending deal late last night.

The drama occurred as the convention began to come to life, as energized delegates buzzed in hotel lobbies, reporters partied into the night, and an unprecedented security force began to move fully into place. The city's atmosphere, softened by rain, seemed unusual, ranging from eerily quiet in some deserted residential neighborhoods to excitement, as clutches of Democratic activists greeted one another at Logan Airport, and tension around the FleetCenter, where dozens of Boston police officers and National Guard troops ringed the perimeter of the convention site.

"We're going to show the best of Boston," Menino said. "I think that this is going to be a great time in the next several days in our city."

At the new Boston Convention & Exhibition Center, the largest of as many as 800 convention-related parties opened dramatically when a drum and bugle corps led a crowd of journalists into a cavernous space decorated with lantern-lit cabanas, wall-size video screens, even a Ferris wheel. Celebrities including Boston Celtic great Bill Russell, Kerry's daughters Vanessa and Alexandra, political reporting grande dame Helen Thomas, and Jesse Jackson attended the Globe-sponsored party, which was held for 10,000 members of the local, national, and international media.

Meanwhile, activists planned to stage one of the week's largest protests today, an antiwar rally that will begin on Boston Common and include a march down Causeway Street to the FleetCenter. Some protesters also complained that they were being muzzled by being restricted to a barricaded area across the street from the FleetCenter.

Convention delegates and Democratic leaders turned their attention to the weeklong party pep rally that will climax on Thursday, when Kerry is expected to accept his party's nomination at the FleetCenter, just a few blocks from his home on Beacon Hill. They said they were fired up about their candidate and determined to roust President George W. Bush from office.

"We're out for blood," said William O. Jenkins, a 54-year-old delegate from Port St. Lucie, Fla. "We're angry . . . with what's happening to the country."

But the mayor was clearly still occupied during the day yesterday by the firefighter dispute. Menino's bargaining team engaged in a full day of talks with the city's firefighters' union, the last big city union still working without a contract. The mayor was hoping to build on momentum from settlements with police unions reached Thursday and Friday.

But firefighters' representatives said they would not give in easily.

"It takes two to make a contract," Menino told reporters. "You can't give away the store. You have to have certain things you believe in."

Despite the labor fight, Menino urged delegates and visitors to explore the city's history-rich neighborhoods and pronounced the city prepared for the 35,000 visitors to the nation's first presidential nominating convention since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

"It's going to be a great time for our city -- an international spotlight," Menino said.

As the mayor spoke, the Secret Service hardened security around the FleetCenter, where the gavel will fall tomorrow to open the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Officials at Boston police headquarters began coordinating the movements of hundreds of police officers, who have begun working in alternating, 12-hour shifts. Fighter jets thundered high overhead.

At a cost of about $50 million, or nearly half the convention's total budget, some 3,000 local, state, and federal law enforcement officers from nearly 100 departments will fan out across a city that officials fear could be an attractive bull's-eye for terrorists and a stage for protesters from more than a dozen special interest groups.

As Kerry began a prenomination journey that will take him to Iowa, Ohio, Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania before he arrives home later this week, he addressed via telephone more than 500 at a brunch at the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum.

He told the group, whose theme was "the changing face of Boston," that the 30-year-old images of protests over busing in South Boston are relics of a city that, for the most part, no longer exists. "I think everybody knows that in the years back there were barriers that were overt and there were fights that were difficult fights," Kerry said. "We've come such a distance since then."

Around the city yesterday, a last-minute cleanup was underway, as shopkeepers with brooms swept doorsteps in the North End and a city public works vacuum truck patrolled the sidewalks near the Irish Famine Memorial. Rows of crisp American flags floated in the breeze above Downtown Crossing, where some merchants decorated their display windows with red, white, and blue bunting.

Kenmore Square buzzed over a bench-clearing brawl as the Red Sox and Yankees resumed a rivalry laden with history and heartache.

Delegates explored the city, enthusiastic about the environment. Paul Berendt, chairman of the Washington state Democratic Party, arrived in Boston a few days early to check out some of the sites with his wife, Beth, and 9-year-old daughter, Michaela.

By yesterday, he had already visited Plymouth, Salem, and Cape Cod -- and dined at Legal Sea Foods. A trip to Lexington and Concord was rained out yesterday, so his wife and daughter spent about $200 in Downtown Crossing instead.

"Everyone has fallen in love with Boston. The food is good and it's a beautiful city," Berendt said. "It's like a kindred spirit with Seattle -- a seaport city in the Northern tier with liberal people."

Still, the labor dispute had weighed on the minds of some delegations, whose leaders have pledged to boycott tonight's neighborhood parties, hosted by Menino, if the city fails to achieve total labor peace.

Don Morabito, executive director of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party, said he would continue to watch the situation and not cross any picket lines. The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO set up an alternate welcoming party for its state delegation at the Omni Parker House in addition to an original welcoming party planned at the State House.

"I think it's too late to cancel either party so maybe we'll just have to have two parties," Morabito said.

Congressman Robert Andrews of New Jersey said he was also carefully watching any changes in the police union dispute.

"My practice is never to cross a picket line and I certainly would not alter that practice in Boston," he said. "I hope the city and the various unions are able to settle, but I have a firm practice of not crossing a picket line."

Barry Rubin, Nebraska's Democratic Party executive director, said his state delegates have made no alternate plans for tonight. "If there are pickets we won't go," he said. "Our plan is to go ahead and hope for the best that these things get resolved. . . . We feel it's important to respect our brothers and sisters in labor unions."

Several arriving delegates yesterday cited the 2000 presidential election, saying they fully expected to avenge that defeat and change the country's course.

"I'm looking forward to the next election and returning this government to the people," said US Representative John Dingell of Michigan. "I feel like Saint Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland."

"There's an old expression in the South," added Richard A. Ray, president of the Georgia state AFL-CIO. "We cried in our beers for a while and then we got serious." With delegates still coming in and residents streaming out, some parts of Boston were unusually quiet.

Throughout several downtown neighborhoods, foot traffic was noticeably light and parking was ample.

Stephen Kurkjian, Michael Paulson, Jenn Abelson, Franco Ordonez, and James Vaznis of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Michael Levenson contributed to this report.Thomas Farragher can be reached at farragher@globe.com.