Boston firefighters approve contract with city

Boston firefighters had been without a contract for nearly three years, an issue Mayor Walsh vowed to fix while campaigning for mayor

May 02, 2014 02:18 AM

The Boston Herald

BOSTON — The city and firefighters last night agreed on a multi-year contract and avoided arbitration for the first time since 2001.

“The membership of Local 718 has voted to accept the offer by the city of Boston regarding a new contract,” the Boston firefighters union wrote on its website last night. The contract was ratified behind 824 yes votes and 58 no votes.

“Tonight our membership voting in overwhelming support of this contract,” Rich Paris, president of Boston Firefighters Local 718, said in a statement. “We said from the beginning that we wanted to come to the best agreement possible for everyone, and we worked together with mutual respect and trust to reach this deal.”

“I’m very pleased to hear the results from tonight’s vote, and I want to thank the membership for their confidence and support,” Mayor Martin J. Walsh said in a statement. “I’m glad that this matter is officially resolved.”

The union and the city did not release any details of the contract last night. Last month, Walsh unveiled a $2.7 billion budget, which represents a 4.5 percent, or $118 million, increase over the current fiscal year.

Boston firefighters had been without a contract for nearly three years, an issue Walsh vowed to fix while campaigning for mayor. He inherited a $30 million deficit when he took office.

Last month, Walsh said the contract was largely done before Lt. Edward J. Walsh Jr. and firefighter Michael R. Kennedy died in a Back Bay inferno March 26 and indicated the city could afford the deal. Paris told the Herald last month that the tragedy stalled contract negotiations.

Walsh’s administration recently negotiated deals with two police unions expected to cost a combined $34 million over six years. The deals were with unions representing superior detectives and superior officers, at ?$12.1 million and $21.9 million, respectively, over six years.

Last month, Walsh said the firefighters and police contracts are “completely separate. I can’t really talk about terms, but I’m not going to negotiate based on parity.”