Firefighters launch cyberfront in war with Menino, Globe

Says a lot about our society when a union is using a website to prey on the taxpayers and seemingly extort money. Sad

It felt like something was missing, maybe it was the presentation not being enough to confuse me from the truth. They should have bought One-to-One at the Apple Store to help give their video a little more 'pop'.

As a Boston Firefighter, I can assure you we sympathize with your frustration over drug and alcohol testing. We too want to ensure our safety, the safety of our brother and sister firefighters and the citizens we are sworn to protect. Our job is dangerous enough without the added burden of someone with a substance abuse problem.
Our Union established the web site firefightthesmears.com (the advertisement for which you have seen on the web) as a way to get the rest of the story to the public. Until now, most media coverage has been one sided.

Here are some facts you may find interesting:

We have a drug testing policy.

Our current policy has been in place longer than Mayor Menino has been Mayor. Supervisors can have a firefighter drug tested at their discretion for mere suspicious of use or being under the influence. We also boast one of the most successful Employee Assistance Programs (EAP). This program staff is tasked with grief counseling for firefighters and family members, as well as with substance abuse and help with stress and stress management. Our program has been so successful that it has been mirrored by other Fire Departments and major employers in the private sector.

The Mayor and his staff of negotiators, want to change the current policy. That is fine. However, according to our contract, "any change in working conditions must be negotiated." What that means is: we have the opportunity to sit down and work out the details of the change. For example: is the Cities intent to make it all punitive, or will there be an opportunity for treatment upon a positive test. Who will conduct the new tests, under what conditions (lowest bidder)? What about false positives. All fair questions, none of which the Menino administration wants to discuss.

It should be noted that our collective bargained rights, work in both directions.

For example, take our current contract language about vacations: we are assigned our vacations by the Chief. We don't get to decide when we want to go on vacation. In January a calendar comes out with our vacations on it. That is when we go on vacation. That policy is a working condition. If we want to change the way that policy is executed, so we may go on vacation when WE want to, we would have to sit down and negotiate the change.

I hope this information has helped to understand that much of the issues we wish to address require lengthy answers, not five second sound bites the media likes to throw out such as, "firefighter refuse drug testing."

In the coming days there will be more information available to you and other readers on our new web site. Thank you for taking the time to read this.