By George P. Hassett

One of the city‚Äôs longest running and most contentious disputes came to an end this week when the Firefighters Union voted to approve a contract offer from the city. Firefighters had gone over 1,000 days without a contract and the quarrel produced some colorful moments including pickets of City Hall and a bizarre incident in which Department of Public Works employees seized the personal property of firefighters allegedly after orders from an angry Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone.   

The new three year contract calls for retroactive salary increases of 2 percent in each of the past two fiscal years, another two percent increase in fiscal year 2007 and a final 2.5 percent boost that becomes effective June 30, the last day of the current fiscal year.  The new contract also calls for firefighters to pay fifteen percent of their health care costs, an increase from ten percent. The contract will expire June 30.

The contract also increases annual stipends for special skills certification, including hazardous materials, defibrillator and master firefighter ratings.  ‚ÄúWe doubled the annual EMT stipend from $1,000 to $2,000, which is a wise investment in professional skills.  We also significantly increased educational stipends for relevant associate and bachelor degrees,‚Äù Curtatone said.

Jay Colbert, president of the fire union, said he wanted to be able to take a year away from negotiations until the next contract was up but settled for this offer because “it is time to move on. After the summer, we’ll just have to recharge our batteries and go back and negotiate.”

The negotiations had become increasingly contentious during the firefighters three years without a contract. In October, the fire and police patrolmen unions banded together to protest stalled negotiations with city officials and hefty pay raises for the mayor and aldermen. In November, the firefighters of Engine 7 on Highland Avenue came back from fighting a two alarm blaze Monday to learn many of the personal items they store in the station had been seized by the city. At the time, Colbert said it was a larceny orchestrated by Curtatone. According to Colbert, Curtatone was forced to cancel a fundraiser at a Boston restaurant because the unions were planning to picket. Angry at the firefighters union, Curtatone ordered DPW employees to go to Engine 7 n and impound all non-fire related equipment, Colbert said.

Thomas P. Champion, spokesman for the city, said the items taken included three bureaus, a wooden bed set, a table set, an electrical panel and various electrical tools.
Colbert said a couch and a gas grill were also taken. At the time, Colbert said he did not know the value of the items taken, but ‚Äúthe pettiness is priceless.‚Äù 

However, this week city officials and union representatives for the fire department put their differences aside and came together to finalize a contract.

‚ÄúLocal 76 joins the Somerville Police Superior Officers Association and the E911 operators on a roster that also includes the Somerville Municipal Employees Union Unit B, the school custodians and the School Department‚Äôs administrative and paraprofessionals unions.  All of these unions have agreed that, in return for higher pay and performance incentives, their workers will chip in a greater share of the health care costs.  Long term, I think that‚Äôs a good bargain for them, for the city and for the taxpayers,‚Äù said Curtatone.