Photo by Mark Garfinkel (file) Menino: ‘We hope that after (yesterday’s) vote, state mediators will be able to help both parties address drug and alcohol testing ... as part of a fair deal for union members and the residents of Boston.’
The city’s quest to force on firefighters hit a snag yesterday as their union sought to keep mandatory screening off the negotiating table. The Boston Firefighters Union Local 718 argued that the issue should be barred from discussions before the three-member Joint Labor-Management Committee for Municipal Police and Fire because it was not included in the city’s original contract proposal. The city countered that the state-appointed board has routinely ruled on contractual issues not included in original filings. Both sides met with the JLMC on Beacon Hill yesterday when the board voted to oversee the negotiations. The panel, which is chaired by retired Judge Samuel Zoll, took no position on whether to allow the testing issue into talks, although one member, Massachusetts Professional Firefighters Association president Robert McCarthy, pledged to keep it out of discussions. Dot Joyce, spokeswoman for Mayor Thomas M. Menino, said: “We hope that after (yesterday’s) vote, state mediators will be able to help both parties address drug and alcohol testing and other necessary reforms as part of a fair deal for union members and the residents of Boston.” The city began pushing for mandatory drug and alcohol testing after two firefighters died in a West Roxbury restaurant blaze last year. One of the firefighters had traces of cocaine in his system while the other was legally drunk, according to sources briefed on the pair’s toxicology results. The union opposes mandatory testing although union president Ed Kelly has said firefighters would be willing to discuss strengthening the current policy, which allows testing when a supervisor suspects a problem. Kelly did not return a call last night.
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