By Rich Lord
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania)
Copyright 2006 P.G. Publishing Co.
With the prosecutor’s microscope off former Mayor Tom Murphy, attention turned yesterday to the state law governing the 2001 firefighters contract talks that prompted a two-year investigation.
U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan detailed her concerns with Act 111, saying Mr. Murphy used it to wash his hands of a contract to which he had agreed.
Union leaders shot back that she had overstepped her bounds and said they would oppose changes in a law that evens the playing field in talks over salaries and benefits they receive for their dangerous jobs.
The case against Mr. Murphy “fell apart because it was inadequately handled from the very beginning,” said Fraternal Order of Police President James Malloy. “Now they want a fall guy, so they’re turning on Act 111.”
In Harrisburg, where any changes to the act would occur, there was little sign of interest.
Ms. Buchanan had considered theft of honest services and mail fraud charges against Mr. Murphy. She announced Monday that she would not indict him, on the condition that he work with her to “identify and rectify” problems with the 1968 act.
The act bars police and firefighters from striking, and essentially puts contract disputes into the hands of a single, neutral arbitrator. Cities and unions can stipulate to provisions on which they agree.
That’s what happened in 2001, said Ms. Buchanan. Mr. Murphy and Joe King, president of International Association of Fire Fighters Local 1, agreed on most terms, and gave them to the arbitrator.
Those stipulations came during a primary election campaign in which the firefighters shifted from hostility toward Mr. Murphy to a late-in-the-game endorsement. Mr. Murphy won the Democratic primary by 699 votes, and the firefighters may have been the difference.
"[The contract] terms, in a transparent system of government, should’ve been made known to the City Council so they could review and approve the provisions that were agreed to,” Ms. Buchanan said. “The arbitration process created the appearance that the agreement was reached by the arbitrator, when in fact the agreement had been reached by the parties before the matter reached the arbitrator.”
She said she would “make myself available” to officials interested in improving the act, but stopped short of suggesting specifics. “The goal, I think, should be transparency in public contracting,” she said, noting that if council had known about the 2001 terms in advance, members might have lobbied the mayor to make changes.
Mr. Malloy said the act was not the problem. Rather, it was the actions of public officials that allowed an expensive fire contract to take effect.
He said he has used the act’s provisions in negotiations since 1974.
“We have never, in all that time, as a police unit, had a meeting with the mayor in a restaurant in the evening to negotiate a contract,” as Mr. Murphy and Mr. King have been accused of doing.
He laughed at Ms. Buchanan’s call for a look at Act 111.
“Isn’t that nice,” he said. “They give a grant of immunity to Joe King. They give immunity to Tom Murphy. ... I’m just talking about [federal prosecutors] doing their job, and leaving our jobs alone.”
Ms. Buchanan defended her decision not to charge or entirely exonerate Mr. Murphy.
“Generally, cases are either prosecuted or declined,” she said. “But in this case, there has been a tremendous amount of public interest in the investigation, and the investigation revealed a flaw ... in the Act 111 system, that I thought was important to be made known to the public.
“At this time, I don’t foresee any criminal charges” against anyone involved in the contract, she said.
Mr. King said he would not comment, on the advice of his attorney.
State-level police and fire union leaders rallied around the act.
“It’s worked since 1968,” said David Eckman, president of the Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association. “Police and firefighters have been using it for decades to avoid the strikes that used to happen.”
If it wasn’t for the act, he said, “some of those municipalities would have us show up at your house with one guy on a fire engine.”
“They’re just looking to take away our ability to negotiate on a fair basis with our employer,” said Mark Koch, president of the state Fraternal Order of Police.
Mr. Murphy regularly complained that the act allowed arbitrators to make contract awards that cities can’t afford.
During his 12-year tenure, the salary for most uniformed veteran police rose from $36,426 to $52,142. Veteran firefighter pay rose from $36,660 to $52,373, before dropping in his final year to $43,208.
Mr. Murphy’s third term ended in December with the city under state fiscal oversight, which curbs the authority of arbitrators.
The Pennsylvania League of Cities and Municipalities has asked the General Assembly to replace the neutral arbitrator in disputes with a senior judge from near the involved municipality, among other changes.
Harrisburg leaders weren’t touching the issue yesterday.
“As of right now, there are no changes [to the act] being looked at,” said Beth Williams, spokeswoman for state House Speaker John Perzel. She said members of the House Labor Relations Committee “are open to any type of suggestions to improve or change the law” but aren’t currently considering any.