FIREFIGHTERS WANT NO TALK OF DRUG TESTS IN CONTRACT

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.