By Dave Wedge
The Boston Herald
BOSTON — Hundreds of Hub firefighters clashed with city officials last night in a marathon City Hall session over the jakes’ controversial contract, with both sides digging in their heels as labor experts urged “compromise” to end the agonizing fight.
“This dispute will go on for a very, very long time,” warned Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Thomas Kochan, tapped by the council to analyze the deal. “Now is the time to insist upon a solution.”
Kochan predicted a protracted, costly legal battle between Boston Firefighters Local 718 and Mayor Thomas M. Menino — no matter how the council votes.
The council is considering whether to fund or reject an arbitrator’s decision to grant firefighters raises of 16.5 percent over four years retroactive to 2006, including a 2.5 percent hike for drug testing. The city contends the raises rise to 19 percent when longevity bonuses are added. A vote could come next week.
Local 718 officials said they’ll make no last-minute concessions, saying the council should respect the arbitrator’s binding award.
“We played by the rules,” Local 718 President Edward Kelly said before the hearing. “The city hired an international law firm . . . The panel heard them and rendered a decision. That decision should be honored.”
The hearing descended into finger-pointing between Leominster Mayor Dean Mazzarella, Menino’s representative on the arbitration panel, and the union’s rep, Bob McCarthy, president of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts. McCarthy accused the media of distorting facts of the award and Mazzarella of “violations of professional responsibility” for allegedly leaking the arbitrator’s ruling before it was finalized.
He added that the council’s actions were being closely watched by labor unions nationwide and urged the board to approve the contract. “The funding is there,” he said. “It’s reasonable and it’s fair.”
Mazzarella said the two sides had a preliminary deal but it fell apart when arbitrator Dana Eischen, who wasn’t at last night’s hearing, made an 11th hour game-changing addition to the deal by tacking on an extra 2.5 percent raise for drug testing.
“I was told it was small potatoes,” Mazzarella recalled. “I said, `I don’t know what farm you grew up on, but this looks like big potatoes.’ ”
Councilors Chuck Turner and Sal LaMattina both said they couldn’t approve the deal.
But Councilor John Tobin said the contract is an issue of “fairness” to the firefighters, who have gone four years without a raise.
South Boston Councilor Bill Linehan said: “It doesn’t seem like compromise is in the cards. I do support this because . . . I do strongly stand by the collective bargaining process and binding arbitration.”
At an earlier hearing on city finances, Kevin Dasey, a Local 718 accountant, claimed the city can fund the deal, alleging Menino has played a fiscal shell game to hide up to $500 million.
But three government finance experts — including former Boston Federal Reserve Bank chair Kathy Minehan — warned the financial future for cities and towns remains bleak, despite recent signs of economic recovery.
Copyright 2010 Boston Herald Inc.