Politics Before Public Safety: A Dangerous Precedent
By now, everyone knows there are two sides to Tom Menino. The public side is friendly and affable. The behind-closed-doors side is thin-skinned and dictatorial. The Boston Firefighters experience has been with the latter.
In July of this year, Mayor Menino temporarily closed down firehouses 27 times in neighborhoods across the city. The Mayor used two trojan horses to publicly justify the firehouse closings. The first was the allegation that firefighters were abusing sick leave and overtime. This was clearly an attempt to embarrass Boston Firefighters and leverage the firehouse closings against the union in bargaining. The fact was that less than 3% of the scheduled workforce was sick, which was below city average. When it was discovered that the Fire Department staffing levels were down by 200 members and that there was a manpower shortage, the Mayor shifted his public stance to that of blaming the city’s finances. This too was readily refuted by the Mayor‘s spokeswoman and the Mayor himself:
“the city’s finances remain strong and in excellent standing…”
-Mayor Menino’s spokeswoman, Dot Joyce, Bulletin Newspaper, August 13. 2009
“We have had the highest bond rating of ever in the past.”
-Mayor Menino, WBZ TV Mayoral Debate, September 2, 2009
When Local 718 was notified by a media outlet that the Mayor would implement temporary firehouse closings, President Kelly wrote to Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick Fraser, seeking information on the City’s operational plan for fiscal 2010 and an implementation plan for the temporary closings. President Kelly received no response from Commissioner Fraser. Bottom line – Mayor Menino, without fact-based justification, orchestrated a political ploy that jeopardized the lives of Bostonians. Click here to see President Kelly’s emails to Commissioner Fraser.
In addition, President Kelly wrote to the Administration warning them of the public safety risks such a plan would pose to the citizens of Boston. In a letter of response to President Kelly, Mayor Menino’s Director of Labor Relations, John Dunlap, revealed their strategy to, again, circumvent collective bargaining with outright threats. He stated that if Local 718 would change the sick leave language in their contract, Mayor Menino would stop bullying them and halt the firehouse closings. The Menino Administration all but admitted in the letter that the Mayor is willing to use the lives of Boston residents as a bargaining chip to further his political agenda. Unbelievable! Click here to read President Kelly’s exchange with the Menino Administration.
Incidentally, Mr. Dunlap’s behavior in these matters is chronic. Instead of doing his job as a negotiator, Mr. Dunlap spends most of his days using public resources to draft letters to the editor and op-eds, researching which City employees aren’t supporting Mayor Menino and trying to find ways to manipulate the collective bargaining process. Is anyone surprised why the Firefighters don’t have a contract with the City yet? Click here to view the latest ethics complaints filed against Mr. Dunlap.
Firefighters Step Up
Firefighters took an oath to protect the citizens of Boston. In the spirit of that commitment, President Kelly and firefighters across the City of Boston volunteered to staff firehouses without pay to keep the residents of this City safe. Mayor Menino’s response: He refused to allow firefighters to volunteer, and actually said he would consider it stealing if firefighters responded to a citizen in need on a fire truck. Bottom line – it was not about the money, it was about dictating to the firefighters.
The facts are that during Mayor Menino’s “brownout period” firefighters in Boston responded to over 7,000 incidents. Residents at this Roslindale complex were not too happy with Mayor Menino’s political gamesmanship. Click link to hear reactions from Roslindale residents.
So if the city had money and excessive absenteeism wasn’t the problem, why would he employ this risky tactic? The answer: Because rather than negotiate in good faith, Mayor Menino and his staff resort to bullying, smears and intimidation.
The Mayor’s brownouts plan had two objectives:
1.) Try to embarrass firefighters enough in the press to force them to submit to his bullying demands and
2.) Test sample which neighborhoods he could politically afford to abandon after the election, when he plans to permanently close firehouses.
Unfortunately for the Mayor, the plan backfired. After a wave of citizen outrage, the brownouts were quietly stopped. The lesson here is simple: rather than bargain in good faith, Mayor Menino will play politics with people’s lives to further his political agenda. That’s not leadership. That’s a dictatorship.
Outdated and Faulty Equipment Put Us All at Risk
There was a time not so long ago when Boston Firefighters were emulated by their peers across the country. But under the Menino Administration, the critical public safety infrastructure of the fire department has been allowed to deteriorate. January 9th, 2009 will always be a terrible day for Boston Firefighters. We lost one of our best when we lost Lt. Kevin Kelley, a 30-year veteran of the Boston Fire Department. However, it was a lucky day for the city of Boston. Many lives were saved that day due to the experience and quick thinking by Lt. Kelley and the Boston Firefighters assigned to Ladder 26 in those crucial last minutes before the crash.
Less than 24-hours after Lt. Kevin Kelley was commander of Ladder 26 for the last time, “Fire Commissioner” Rod Fraser held a press conference steps from where Kevin climbed onto the truck. When asked about the maintenance division, he proclaimed defiantly that his policy for maintenance is “if it’s broke, fix it”. This was too little too late for Kevin Kelley.
Boston residents were horrified and shocked to learn that their firefighters were operating trucks with no brakes. We were horrified too, but not shocked. That wasn’t even the first time Ladder 26 lost its brakes on Parker Hill Avenue! The lessons learned from Lt. Kevin Kelley’s death were lessons learned time and time again across the country, yet the Menino Administration refused to heed past warnings from fire department officials. Click here to see Local 718 President Ed Kelly’s letter to BFD Commsioner in December 2006 requesting a safety audit. Despite a letter from the Commissioner himself stating that a safety audit would be done, nothing was done until after the Ladder 26 tragedy, over 2 years later. The truth is that in the wake of Lt. Kelley’s death, so much fire apparatus was taken out of service that Boston Firefighters were forced to respond to fires in pick-up trucks. The very first fire truck inspected after Lt. Kelley’s death flunked the brake test. See video in link below and note that Mayor Menino’s attempt to blame firefighters for faulty equipment is refuted by his own BFD spokesman.
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/18465044/index.html
Unfortunately, Ladder 26 wasn’t the only piece of apparatus in deplorable condition. The following are a few more that come to mind:
- Dorchester’s Ladder 29 (2nd due) truck ladder malfunctioned and couldn’t be raised during a fire with people trapped on Columbia Rd.
- Same fire – Dorchester’s Engine 24 (1st due) had their computerized pump shut down with multiple hose lines being used off it to fight a 4 alarm blaze
- Dorchester’s Engine 18 (1st due) shut down while its hose line was operating fire inside a house on Talbot Ave. The firefighters inside, without any water, had to bail down the stairs , delaying the primary search (the truck was 23 years old)
- Roxbury’s Rescue 2 had to leave a firefighter in the truck at fires with their foot on the brake because the air brake was broken
- South End’s Engine 22 was driving down the street when the cab elevation mechanism malfunctioned flipping the cab with firefighters in it
- An officer on Dorchester’s Ladder 17 officer had to pull up the accelerator pedal with a closet rake because the accelerator pedal wouldn’t release after the driver depressed it (this was a spare truck because the regular truck was also out of service)
- Dorchester’s Ladder 6 steering wheel came off responding down Ashmont St.
- Back Bay’s Engine 33 spare truck shut down with 2 hose lines running off it during a fire at an occupied building in District 5, Brookline was 3rd due and their engine supplied our lines
How did the BFD’s Fleet get into such terrible condition?
Policy established under Mayor Flynn/Commissioner Stapleton and continued by Commissioner Pierce instituted an apparatus replacement program to replace apparatus every 10 years. This system was in compliance with NFPA standards for fire apparatus with heavy usage in a city like Boston. The maintenance policy called for routine preventive maintenance done by members of the Motor Squad according to the manufacturer’s specifications, and all mechanical maintenance and repair was contracted out. The Motor Squad was our AAA – they rotate the tires, change the oil, pop a new battery in and if you broke down they got you running or had you towed. This is in addition to thawing hydrants and aerials at fires, manning the relief van, and handling firehouse maintenance after business hours. Vendors took care of the rest. This seemed like a common sense policy.
Despite warnings from Commissioner Pierce, the Menino Administration abandoned the NFPA Standard Apparatus Replacement Program in the late 1990s, resulting in a fleet that had trucks older than some of the guys driving them. [Click here to see former BFD Commissioner Martin Pierce’s letters warning the Menino Administration about the hazards of outdated and faulty equipment.]The motor squad was cut in half to two guys on duty each shift and the preventive maintenance position eliminated. They stopped buying fire trucks and let our fleet rot, putting the lives of Boston Firefighters and the people of Boston at risk.
10 Years of Neglect
These are just a few examples of how Boston Firefighters have been neglected by City Hall. We know that this neglect puts lives in jeopardy – and we, our families, and the people of Boston deserve better. Still nothing has changed and we have the same problems today: lack of equipment, manning, training, planning etc. Unfortunately fires continue to happen every day, the War on Terror isn’t going away, and people still need their firefighters. Our lives depend on being progressive, and changing to meet the challenges of the future. It’s time we had a mayor who realized that.
The truth about Mayor Menino and ‘random drug and alcohol testing’
Part I.
The most controversial topic around the current contract negotiations between Boston Firefighters Local 718 and Mayor Menino is the issue of random drug and alcohol testing. The Mayor has used his office to spin lies about both the City’s and the Boston Firefighters’ positions on drug testing. This post will separate the Fact from the Fiction, as well as provide a timeline into Mayor Menino’s political calculation and posturing.
Fiction #1 – Boston Firefighters “won’t do drug testing”.
Fact # 1- In 1984, Boston Firefighters Local 718 was one of the first unions in the country to institute a drug and alcohol testing program. The policy is known as reasonable suspicion. Under the policy, if a supervisor suspects a firefighter of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol they are automatically tested. If the test comes back positive, the firefighter is immediately suspended without pay for a period of 30 days and remanded into the Employee Assistance Program. If the firefighter tests positive for a second time in their career, he or she is terminated. This policy became a model throughout the country. Click here to read the policy.
To hear Mayor Menino describe the policy, go to the 3:26 mark of the video below:
http://www.necn.com/Boston/Politics/2009/08/06/Boston-Mayoral-race-Menino/1249598795.html
Fiction #2- Mayor Menino has advocated for random drug and alcohol testing his entire career.
Fact #2- Mayor Menino brags about having successfully negotiated hundreds of labor contracts within the City of Boston. However, in his capacity as Mayor, he has never negotiated a single random drug and alcohol testing program in the City of Boston.
Fiction #3- Mayor Menino proposed random drug and alcohol testing during the current round of bargaining.
“Many times we’ve had that issue on the table, and [the union's] always said, ‘Uhnh-unh, no way,” – Mayor Menino,Panel to review Fire Dept. policies – Mayor asks them to help alter substance abuse rules, Boston Globe, 11.11.07
Fact #3 – Mayor Menino never proposed any change to the existing drug and alcohol testing policy during the negotiations that took place prior to his walking away from the table and filing for arbitration on July 31 2007. Click here to read Mayor Menino’s August 1, 2007 petition to the Joint Labor Management Committee (JLMC) wherein drug testing is not mentioned in his ‘Statement of Issues in Dispute’.
Further Note:
In June, 2009 Mayor Menino’s Labor Relations Director, John Dunlap, testified under oath that it was not until late September 2007 that he was ordered by his superiors (City Finance chief Lisa Signori and Mayor Menino) to develop a random drug and alcohol testing policy.
This action occurred in the weeks after the tragic fire at Tai Ho Restaurant in West Roxbury, when two Boston Firefighters were killed in the line of duty. Unbelievably and shamelessly, on October 3, 2007, only days after Dunlap was given the order, high ranking City officials leaked the autopsy reports of the two Boston Firefighters. Less than a week after the autopsy reports were leaked, the City- having never developed one before- miraculously produced a 30- page random drug and alcohol testing policy.
Part II.
Media frenzy ensued.
Despite the political posturing of the Mayor, the disinformation being disseminated by the press and the mounting criticism of a confused public, Local 718 never opposed a random drug and alcohol testing policy.
Cahill- Swift LLC, whose expertise is the Federal regulations covering drug testing policies for the most highly safety sensitive Federal employees, contacted both Mayor Menino’s office and Local 718 to offer their services as a neutral 3rd party policy expert . Local 718 representatives met with partners from Cahill-Swift and agreed that their expertise was needed to craft a fair and effective policy. The City did not respond to Cahill- Swift’s correspondence.
Subsequently, Local 718 President Ed Kelly and the late Vice President Bob Kilduff met with Mayor Menino and his Chief of Policy and Planning, Michael Kineavy, to discuss moving forward with a random drug and alcohol testing policy. In that meeting, President Ed Kelly recommended bringing in a neutral 3rd party to help craft a policy that was fair and effective for both parties and presented Mayor Menino with Cahill-Swift’s contact information. Mr. Kineavy did place a call to Cahill-Swift, but according to the company, did not express any interest in their expertise, nor did the city recommend another neutral 3rd party.
So, rather than retain impartial experts, the city proposed yet another random drug and alcohol testing policy in December 2007, which appeared to be an amalgamation of various policies instituted in other jurisdictions. Local 718 then retained Cahill- Swift to analyze the city’s proposal and provide recommendations. After thorough analysis, it was revealed that the city’s proposal had dozens of flaws which violated Federal regulations governing drug testing policies. These flaws had the potential cost to the taxpayers of Boston and Local 718 expensive needless litigation. Although under extreme public pressure, Local 718 could not in good conscious agree to the city’s proposal, and refused to give in to Mayor Menino’s bullying tactics.
Part III.
When the Mayor’s political spin that the “firefighters won’t do drug testing” stopped getting traction, he transitioned to “firefighters want to get paid for drug testing”. Many people agree that from a moral and philosophical perspective public safety officials should be subject to a random drug testing, and not compensated for this change in working conditions. These people, ironically, believe Mayor Menino to be the champion of this position. Yet the facts related to the Mayor negotiating compensation in exchange for drug testing are these:
1.) Between 1999 and 2000 Mayor Menino negotiated a drug testing policy- though not random drug and alcohol testing – with the four police unions in exchange for Quinn Bill benefits (a financial incentive which compensates police officers between 10-25% for attaining college degrees) setting the collective bargaining pattern for public safety unions in the city of Boston.
2.) In December 2007 (after the firefighters autopsies were leaked, incidentally), Mayor Menino negotiated a wage increase of 11.5% and a retirement benefit worth 10%, totaling a 21.5% benefit package over 5 years with the cities EMTs and Paramedics in exchange for the same drug testing policy as the police unions- still, not random drug and alcohol testing.
Mayor Menino’s bullying tactics may work against a developer seeking building permits or a small business applying for a liquor license, but when it comes to Boston Firefighters, we will not allow ourselves or our families to be treated unfairly! We die for strangers; we will fight for each other!
As we have pointed out with factual documentation, despite his politically drenched rhetoric, the Mayor and his administration never had any intention of bargaining for a random drug and alcohol testing policy in good faith. Instead, he uses smear and fear tactics to distract the press and public from learning about his mismanagement that jeopardizes public safety.
The truth is that Boston Firefighters support random drug and alcohol testing; we just want a policy that is fair and bargained in good faith. The Mayor does not. If he did, after 16 years, we would have had one by now. But as with every other issue facing the city, Menino doesn’t lead, he reacts. He manages the city by pandering, intimidation and disinformation. That is not leadership. And it is not what it will take to move Boston forward.
Have You Ever Waited Longer Than 4 Minutes for Help?
The Menino administration would like the citizens of Boston to believe that they go to great lengths to keep them, their children, and their property safe and protected. They want you to think that the strained relationship between the administration and the city’s firefighters hasn’t jeopardized your well being. Boston Firefighters believe that this is far from the truth.
Did you know that the city’s policy for medical response often prohibits Boston Firefighters from responding to the scene of a medical emergency? Boston Firefighters are trained first responders; many are emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics. Instead of having the nearest firehouse respond, the city has authorized a list of what we can and cannot respond to, and residents and visitors to Boston are suffering as a result.
If a person is shot or stabbed on a Boston street- even in close proximity to a firehouse- we are not dispatched to assist. One stabbing victim passed out on the sidewalk in front of Dudley Street firehouse, and even after a passerby called 911, the city policy kept 10 trained EMTs inside the firehouse from being notified. Who knows if some of the hundreds of homicide victims in this city could have been saved if this policy did not exist?
The city’s administration wants firefighters to respond to only certain medical calls. A critically injured person would certainly benefit from the most immediate medical treatment available. When seconds count, why would the City’s administration choose not to utilize the closest medically trained personnel? If it were your loved one, wouldn’t you want the most immediate help possible?
This protocol doesn’t just apply to shootings and stabbings. Boston Firefighters are often prohibited from responding to rescues, motor vehicle accidents, subway accidents and medical alert alarms. The Menino practice has been responsible for elderly citizens left laying on the floor after a fall, unassisted, for periods of up to a half hour while BFD units were three to four minutes away.
If you’ve waited longer than four minutes, chances are this management policy has failed you. As Boston Firefighters, we took an oath to protect those that live and work in Boston. Why would the city prevent that? It’s time Boston had a mayor who puts public safety before politics. Period.
Responding to a disaster is just a distraction to Mayor Menino
Boston is fast becoming one of the life science capitals of the world, which is great news both for jobs and our economy. Already there are 5,000 laboratories in our city – more than any other city in the world – and that number is expected to grow in the years to come. As citizens, we should be excited about this growth. But as firefighters, we are concerned.
What happens if one of these laboratories is the scene of an accident involving hazardous materials? Does the City of Boston have the capacity today to handle whatever might occur? Are we prepared for the most difficult and dangerous types of chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, or explosive events?
Many people are surprised when they learn that Boston does not have a dedicated hazardous materials unit within the city. When you think about it – given the growth of life sciences in our city – it is both puzzling and embarrassing. The fact is that the City of Boston has consistently refused to fund a dedicated HazMat unit. Will it take a disaster to get action from the Menino administration? Do you think, as Mayor Menino does, that dealing with this issue is merely a distraction?
This is one of the many important public safety issues that needed to be addressed during the current collective bargaining contract negotiations, prior to being suspended by the Mayor with his request for arbitration on August 1, 2007. Predictably, the Mayor has created a distraction of his own. In order to circumvent the collective bargaining process and bully the union, he has shamelessly taken advantage of the tragic death of two of Boston’s finest firefighters to smear Local 718 and the firefighting community by claiming falsely that the union is unwilling to submit to random drug and alcohol testing. Nothing could be further from the truth. His manipulation of the press, through classic disinformation tactics, bordering on lies, has been designed to turn 300 years of favorable public opinion of firefighters against us. Shame on him.
As President of Boston Firefighters Local 718 and on behalf of our union members, I pledge to the citizens of Boston that a fair and quality random drug and alcohol testing program will be included in our new contract with the City of Boston. We will continue to raise the many other public safety deficiencies that may be distractions to the Mayor but are vital to firefighters and the well being of the citizens of Boston. The “distraction” of a hazardous materials disaster should not dictate public policy. It is time the City of Boston had a Mayor who puts public safety before politics.
The truth behind ‘King for a Day’
Due to the onslaught of personal attacks that the Boston Firefighter community has sustained over the disability pension issue, we feel it necessary to defend ourselves and tell the truth about the allegations of pension abuse within the Boston Firefighter community, especially regarding ‘acting out of grade by seniority’, the so-called ‘king for a day’ provision. Let us be clear: Boston Firefighters Local 718 does not in any way condone attempts by its members to manipulate the pension system. Firefighters pay into thier pension system and demand that it be protected from abusers. It is management’s responsibility to ensure that it is. If some of these allegations prove to be true, those members, if found to have exploited the system, deserve to be punished.
Over the last two years, Mayor Menino and his administration have accused the Boston Firefighter community of fostering a culture of pension abuse and fraud within its ranks. They have taken every opportunity to attempt to convince the citizens of Boston that the so-called ‘king for a day’ policy or acting out of grade by seniority was designed by Boston Firefighters Local 718 to benefit its members. Yet, despite what Mayor Menino and BMRB’s Sam Tyler would like the citizens of Boston to believe, Local 718 has no role in the disability pension process at all. The truth is that the decision whether to award disability pension benefits is made by the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission. (Click here for a primer on the disability pension application process.) Furthermore, of the 102 Firefighters highlighted by the Boston Globe that filed for disability pensions over a 6 year period, over 60 of those firefighters were diagnosed with occupational cancer, heart disease or lung disease. Nine of those firefighters have since succumbed to the fatal affects of these occupational diseases. All of them went through the lengthy application and verification process detailed in the aforementioned primer. Again, Boston Firefighters Local 718 has no role in the process and is just as outraged as the public when one of our own does anything to diminish the reputation we strive to uphold.
Recently, the Massachusetts State Legislature and the Governor passed legislation stripping public safety employees, statewide, of pension rights under the label of “pension reform”. There is more to this issue than you think. What most of the public does not know about the ‘king for a day’ policy is that this policy was pushed for by Mayor Menino during our negotiations in 2000. All of this was done despite warnings by Local 718 representatives that filling temporary vacancies with senior firefighters could become a problem. Here is why: The average age of a Boston Firefighter is 47 years old. Ineligible to retire until age 55, some firefighters work into their 60s. This means that more than likely the senior men in a firehouse are older, more prone to injury and more likely to be eligible to retire. Prior to 2001, temporary vacancies were filled by using the civil service promotional list mainly consisting of younger firefighters trying to advance their careers. This put younger firefighters, who were less prone to injury and illness and further away from retirement, in temporarily higher positions and pay grades while they were awaiting permanent promotions. When that policy was in place, there were far fewer retirements out of grade. It was a policy that worked. However, rather than owning up to his mistake, Mayor Menino’s administration launched a public smear campaign against Boston Firefighters in an attempt to destroy our credibility and turn public opinion against us. Using his abusive tactic of media manipulation, Mayor Menino attempted to circumvent collective bargaining laws.
This past spring he went one step further and lobbied the State Legislature, suggesting that other municipalities across the state shared the same problem and abuse was widespread. That was and is not true. ‘Acting out of grade by seniority’ was not a problem in Police and Fire Departments throughout the Commonwealth. It was only a problem in Boston Fire Department due to the implementation of a failed policy that Mayor Menino himself pushed for. So, instead of sitting down at the table and negotiating a change back to the old policy in good faith, the Mayor lobbied a predisposed state legislature to take action, stripping public safety employees from municipalities across the state of their pension rights, in order to mask the truth.
What’s ironic about this smear campaign is that his Fire Commissioner Rod Fraser- who went so far as to call firefighters that retired on disability “frauds”- retired on a disability from a desk job in the Navy at the young age of 42! He now collects over $200,000 per year in taxpayer money via his disability pension and City Hall cabinet salary. Now we know why he’s such an expert on disability pensions.
Arguably the biggest beneficiary of an ‘acting out of grade’ policy is Mayor Menino himself. In 1993 when then-Mayor Raymond L. Flynn left to become US Ambassador to the Holy See, then-Councilor Menino became ‘acting’ Mayor (and took every bit of his ‘acting’ Mayor’s salary). The City’s charter calls for appointing the City Council President as ‘acting’ mayor in the case of a sitting mayor’s absence or resignation. Most people think were it not for the ‘acting’ mayor rule, Tom Menino would never have been mayor.
What is the feud between Mayor Menino and Local 718 really about?
It seems fitting that our first ‘Fact vs. Fiction’ post is published on Labor Day when we remember the struggles of the American worker and celebrate the progress made in the workplace with respect to workers rights and their ability to collectively bargain. In addition to providing insight into the collective bargaining process, this post seeks to expose why, for the past 2 years, the Menino administration has been attacking both the character of Boston Firefighters and the integrity of the collective bargaining process.
Collective bargaining is the process by which unions negotiate contracts with their employers regarding hours, wages, working conditions, and safety. It is a process that has been supported by the Democratic Party since it was signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1935 during the Great Depression. (In 1973, Massachusetts Republican Governor Francis W. Sargent signed a law [M.G.L c.150E] granting collective bargaining rights to most state and municipal employees.)
The collective bargaining process is designed to be a two-way street. [Click herefor a primer on collective bargaining as it relates to Boston Firefighters Local 718’s contract with the City.] If the City or the Union wants to make a change to a contract, even if it appears to be a common sense matter, it must still be negotiated. The process can only be successful when both parties enter the negotiations with a willingness to bargain in good faith. In our case, we believe that Mayor Menino had never intended to bargain in good faith. There is evidence to back up this assertion.
On August 1st, 2007 Local 718 President Edward Kelly received a letter from the Menino Administration informing the union that the Mayor had petitioned for the state’s Joint Labor Management Committee (JLMC) to step in and mediate because he no longer wanted to negotiate. Up to that point, neither Mayor Menino nor his bargaining team ever brought up the issue of drug testing. (Click here to view ‘Statement of Issues in Dispute’ in Menino’s petition to JLMC with no mention of drug testing.) The next day, August 2nd, 2007 his administration in collusion with the BMRB’s Sam Tyler began theirpress manipulation,again, with no mention of drug testing. Twenty seven days later, Firefighters Warren Payne and Paul Cahill sacrificed their lives in the line of duty. On October 3rd, 2007 “unnamed city officials” leaked reports about the alleged presence of drugs and alcohol in their systems. Under the pretext of public concern, Mayor Menino then seized this tragic opportunity to unapologetically defame them and their families and smear the entire Boston Firefighter community. Why would a Mayor seek to destroy the lives of the families of two men who died serving the City? The answer: Shameless political posturing – vintage Menino.
The facts are these.
We share the public’s concern toward the matter of drug testing. Despite Mayor Menino ’s attempt to misinform the public, we are and have been clear and committed on this issue. Local 718 has always supported drug testing. In fact, we were one of the first Firefighter Unions in the country to advocate for and implement a drug testing program. Furthermore, Local 718 has never been against random drug or alcohol testing; we simply want a program that is comprehensive and bargained in good faith, not one that imposed as a result of the Mayor’s manipulation of the press and the false impressions left with the public.
Another issue that has been manipulated in the press by the Menino Administration is that of alleged pension abuse. We are clear on this issue as well: Local 718 has never supported nor condoned fraudulent attempts to abuse the pension system. We demand that our pension system be protected from abusers. It is management’s responsibility to establish and implement policies that ensure our pension system is protected.
In the end, this charade played out by Mayor Menino and his administration has never been about drug testing or disability pensions. It is about power. It’s about a conscious, tactical and political decision to circumvent the collective bargaining rules and spread disinformation in an attempt to bully the union. It is about a conscious decision to engage in a tawdry smear campaign targeting the very citizens who have taken an oath to help protect the City he wishes to lead for another 4 years. His is not the leadership that it will take to move Boston forward.
