Loot and Ladders

Adam Gaffin reports that Council President Mike Ross will be asking Local 718 to make concessions for their contract.

Ross said that while it's unfair firefighters have gone four years without a contract, he's not prepared to give firefighters a larger increase than other municipal employees have gotten just "to come to work sober" when the city is shutting libraries and community centers the year after it closed schools. He said the $74 million price tag is just too much in times like these.

Ross noted that firefighters in other parts of the country - and other municipal workers in Boston - have agreed to wage reductions or deferrals to save jobs.

Dave Wedge reports that labor professor Thomas Kochan recommends having Mayor Menino and Local 718 return to the table and work on their relationship issues.

“A straight up/down vote by the Council to fund/not fund the arbitration award will neither end this dispute nor put the parties on a course to transforming what is now a dysfunctional labor-management relationship,” Kochan wrote in a report to the council.

Kochan said the wage hikes awarded by a state arbitrator are identical to those received by police, except for the final 2.5 percent raise, which was a concession for random drug and alcohol testing. He noted that police received Quinn Bill benefits and EMTs were moved into a higher pension group in exchange for drug testing. He refuted the city’s claim that the raise opens the door for similar increases for other unions.

Gintautas Dumcius reports that the Lower Mills Civic Association has voted to urge the City Council not to approve the contract.