By Dave Wedge
The Boston Herald
BOSTON — City unions will reap a $100 million windfall in extra pay hikes over the next two decades if the City Council approves a contentious firefighter contract that calls for a 2.5 percent raise for drug testing, Mayor Thomas M. Menino contends.
The mayor said the hike, which Boston Firefighters Local 718 has agreed to defer for one year, will set a standard of payment for drug testing and will result in firefighters being paid “in perpetuity” for agreeing to increased screening.
“The union’s one-year wage deferral valued at $4.3 million is a concession, yes, but a small amount to trade for the more than $100 million union members would secure in payment for drug and alcohol testing over the next 20 years,” Menino said in a letter to be submitted to the council this morning.
“If you vote in favor of the contract . . . 2.5 percent will be essentially locked in as a price for drug and alcohol testing forever. In 2020, the city can expect to pay firefighters more than $5 million for drug and alcohol testing. How will this bargain look then?”
Menino’s letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Herald yesterday, was sent to the council as a formal response to the union’s landmark concession. The council is considering whether to approve a state arbitrator’s award giving jakes 16.5 percent raises over four years that officials say increases to 19 percent with longevity bonuses.
“No one wants to resolve the firefighters contract more than I do,” Menino said. “However, the money required for a 19.2 percent raise and all the costs it will lead to is not mine to concede. It’s the taxpayers’ money.”
The mayor added that his administration is “open to discussion with the Boston Fire Union about provisions that would benefit its members and protect the city’s taxpayers” and said there remain “options.”
Council President Michael Ross said: “I appreciate the mayor for acknowledging the progress made by the council and call upon him to exercise the same good will demonstrated by Local 718 by offering realistic options that will move us forward.”
The mayor also introduced a new wrinkle into the controversy, arguing that the 2.5 percent raise should only apply to current firefighters and not future jakes.
“What sense does it make that a teenager in Boston who dreams of joining the Fire Department one day would be guaranteed of payment for drug and alcohol testing years from now? At the very least we owe our taxpayers new expectations for the next generation,” the mayor said.
Local 718 President Ed Kelly acknowledged the payments are a “perpetual cost” but said firefighters are getting less for drug testing than police and EMTs.
“The Menino administration has voluntarily negotiated recurring costs with other city employees in exchange for drug testing, which far exceed the 2.5 percent the arbitrators decision provides for the firefighters,” Kelly said.
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