BTU In The News

Boston Globe Article (2/14/04)

Two unions organizing strategy for convention
By Rick Klein and Ralph Ranalli, Globe Staff.


Mired in bitter contract negotiations, two of Boston's
largest public-employee unions are planning to run
national newspaper advertisements and launch an
aggressive letter-writing campaign aimed at delegates
to the Democratic National Convention.

The unions hope the campaign, an escalation of their
use of the convention as leverage in negotiations,
puts more pressure on Mayor Thomas M. Menino as he
prepares to host some 35,000 delegates and members of
the news media in July.

In a strong signal that he wants to resolve labor
disputes quickly, Menino said yesterday that he has
asked Thomas F. Birmingham, a longtime ally of
organized labor, to mediate the city's talks with 32
unions that are now working without contracts.
Negotiations with police and teachers have been
stalled for months, as city officials argue that they
can no longer afford the generous contracts awarded in
the prosperous 1990s.

"People who are coming to Boston shouldn't be
surprised to find that there are labor problems here,"
said Thomas J. Nee, president of the Boston Police
Patrolmen's Association, which is joining the Boston
Teachers Union in the campaigns. "If we are going to
have a national convention here, then we have a
national problem."

Birmingham, the former state Senate president and a
veteran labor lawyer who is respected in labor
circles, met with the heads of about 20 city unions
yesterday and has begun reviewing city financial
documents. Birmingham said he agreed to serve as an
unpaid intermediary because he realizes that the
stakes for the city are high, with the Democrats
coming to Boston to nominate their presidential
candidate in July.

"It could, I think, be an embarrassment, to put it
mildly, to the city, the state, the Democratic Party,
and to the trade-union movement," said Birmingham, a
Chelsea Democrat whose term expired in 2003, after an
unsuccessful run for governor. "I don't think anybody
wants to see that catastrophe occur, but it could
happen."

With the convention now less than six months away,
pressure has been mounting on Menino to produce
results in labor negotiations. Unions have threatened
to disrupt the convention, and at the mayor's State of
the City address last month, thousands of union
members chanted and carried signs such as "Democrats
negotiate contracts." Menino set an informal deadline
of January for settling the contracts, but none has
been signed.

The police and teachers unions have begun sending
e-mails to Democratic activists nationwide, accusing
Menino of stonewalling in contract talks. The union
plans to send a similar message to convention
delegates once they are chosen, according to Nee and a
teachers union source. Advertisements would be placed
in The Washington Post and The New York Times, union
leaders said.

Menino hopes that Birmingham's input can quickly buy
credibility among labor leaders who have viewed the
administration with suspicion. "Former Senate
president Birmingham is an honest broker with
tremendous credibility, deep commitment to the labor
movement, and the respect of all sides," said the
mayor's spokesman, Seth Gitell. "The first step is to
get the labor leaders to buy in as part of a process.
Mayor Menino hopes they'll take the obligation to get
a deal done as seriously as he does and work with Tom
Birmingham to move the process ahead."

Labor leaders view Birmingham's appointment as a
positive sign. Menino seldom reaches beyond his inner
circle for help on important issues, and Birmingham is
respected by top labor leaders in the city and state.

"The Greater Boston Labor Council and city union
leaders welcome Tom Birmingham's participation," Rich
Rogers, executive secretary treasurer of the labor
council. "He has great credibility with the labor
movement, and we are hopeful his involvement can
enhance the prospects for contract settlements."

Nee, of the patrolmen's union, called Birmingham's
arrival in the talks a positive step. But he pointed
out that the labor conflict had already resisted the
peacemaking efforts of other prominent Democrats.

"We appreciate his efforts; he is a friend of labor
and a good man," Nee said of Birmingham. "When people
are at loggerheads, this sort of thing can be good. At
this point, I get the sense that he is taking in all
the information and trying to get his arms around it."

Birmingham, who is now in private practice with the
law firm Palmer and Dodge, was among the closest
allies of organized labor in his 12 years in the
Legislature. He fought for minimum-wage increases and
health care expansions, and the AFL/CIO paid him back
in part by endorsing his 2002 gubernatorial candidacy.

Menino and Birmingham worked closely on some issues
over the years, and Menino was especially grateful for
the local aid funding increases Birmingham brought as
part of education reform efforts. But the two have
never been close personally.

Birmingham said Menino called him "out of the blue"
about two weeks ago, and the two met to discuss his
charge more formally last week. Birmingham said he is
not sure whether he will hammer out specific
provisions with the city and unions or offer more
general guidance to the two sides.

He pointed out that because he is not providing
binding arbitration services, his advice can be freely
ignored by both sides.

"It's a new role for me, in that I've never mediated
before," Birmingham said. "I have strong and long
relationships with most of the unions. That doesn't
give me a magic wand."

As for the unions' national lobbying campaign, some
Democratic officials are unsure as to how effective it
will be. Nu Wexler, executive director of the South
Carolina Democratic Party, said South Carolina party
leaders would be concerned about labor unrest
disrupting the convention, but that they would still
be reluctant to intervene.

"Our state party delegation is unlikely to get
involved in a local labor dispute," Wexler said. "But
we hope this gets resolved amicably by the start of
the convention."

Megan Tench of the Globe staff contributed to thtis
report. Rick Klein can be reached at rklein@globe.com .

Boston's teacher-parents
Boston Globe Editorial (1/31/04)

    The Boston Teachers Union is forming a new advocacy group with built-in credibility -- teachers and paraprofessionals whose own children attend the city's schools. It's an astute initiative with potential both for improving classrooms and attracting families that now bypass the 60,000-student system.

    The group was launched earlier this month by the BTU's new president, Richard Stutman, whose daughter attends fifth grade at the Hennigan School in Jamaica Plain. Stutman is still surveying his members but estimates that 500 of his roughly 7,500 colleagues have children in the city's schools.

    Concern about the unevenness of offerings across the system, especially after-school programs, was a hot topic at the first meeting, according to the union chief. Parents attending also expressed frustration about gaining access to special education services, a common complaint systemwide.

    But the group's clout is likely to be greatest on curriculum matters.
Stutman, a mathematics teacher, is openly critical of portions of the city's math curriculum that emphasize alternative ways to solve
problems at the expense of standard formulas and computational methods. The curriculum, he suspects, puts the city's elementary school students at a disadvantage when taking competitive entrance exams.

    If so, Boston teachers are not likely to sit idly by while private and
parochial school students push past their children for seats at the city's more prestigious high schools.

The group could also aid in the union's new "Partners with Parents"
campaign, aimed at encouraging Boston parents to read to their children and limit their television time. Coming from these teacher-parents, the suggestion may sound less like a lecture and more like neighborly advice.

– The Boston Globe

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