First, a little history. The city has been trying to hammer out an agreement with Local 718 for nearly two years. Last August the city asked the state Joint Labor-Management Committee (JLMC) to take the dispute, which it officially did on Feb. 7 of this year.

Between those two dates came the revelation that two firefighters killed in a West Roxbury restaurant fire had intoxicants in their systems at the time (one alcohol above the legal limit to drive and the other traces of cocaine). That put random drug and alcohol testing near the top of the city's requirements for the new contract. The drug-related arrests of one firefighter out on disability and another in a fire department vehicle raised the ante.

And further complicating the picture is the current federal probe of firefighters who temporarily sub for a higher-ranking member of the department and have an untimely accident, bumping up their disability pensions.

In short, the department is smelling increasingly like a cesspool, and the smellier it gets, the more difficult it has been to negotiate with.

Serving as chief enabler for Local 718's dysfunctional behavior at the bargaining table has been the president of the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, Robert McCarthy, who also serves as a labor member of the JLMC.

The JLMC, chaired by retired Judge Sam Zoll, scheduled two mediation sessions (Feb. 27 and April 30), which proved as pointless as the earlier talks. Yesterday Zoll and the management representative on the committee voted to authorize arbitration.

The possibility remains of one more mediation session before a date for arbitration will be set.

McCarthy, who always seems to think that the best defense is a good offense, read a statement yesterday first ripping into Zoll personally, charging the distinguished former chief justice of the district courts had "lost his neutrality and objectivity."

Then he continued to bluster about filing legislation to dismantle the JLMC and create some other body to resolve such public sector labor disputes.

Yes, that will really help!

The public has always viewed firefighters as heroes. And many who serve this city truly are. But they are not well served by union leaders who won't address issues of substance abuse and disability abuse without a financial give-back. And the taxpayers will demand nothing less.

(c) 2008 Boston Herald. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.

Written by Boston Herald