With less than a month to go before a crucial contract deadline, Baltimore and its firefighters are sharply divided again -- over whether a consultant should be part of the city's bargaining team.
Wednesday, at the request of city Labor Commissioner Melvin Harris, the Board of Estimates approved a $100,000 contract for New Jersey-based Hay Management Consultants to aid the city in talks with firefighters and negotiations with other unions. This is the fourth straight year the city has hired Hay.
The board's 4-1 approval of Hay's contract came over the strong objections of union leaders, who said the company had no feel for the needs of the city's public safety workers. Union leaders also objected to last year's contract with Hay.
"If the labor commissioner can't do his job, I'd suggest [Hay] come in and live in Baltimore and feel its heartbeat. That's what [the company] lacks," said William V. Taylor, president of Firefighters Local 734.
The protest over Hay's hiring comes as a Feb. 28 deadline looms for an agreement between the city and its firefighters. Under city law, if the parties cannot reach an agreement by then, they must submit to binding arbitration -- a process used in the last two contracts.
The firefighters were joined in their protest by Gary McLhinney, president of the police union, who said Hay has shown "total contempt" for workers. The police union, which has a two-year contract that expires in 1996, is not bargaining this year.
Mr. Harris, however, said Hay was needed to help his small staff present information on wages and benefits and prepare for the possibility of arbitration. He said the company does not set the city's negotiating stance.
"Hay Management does not decide the city strategy. That is a city decision," Mr. Harris said.
Mr. Harris also noted that local unions are aided in negotiations by representatives of a private law firm and the International Association of Firefighters.
Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke praised Hay as "our S.O.B." but said extensive use of the company could be avoided if the city and firefighters could reach a collective bargaining agreement. "My interest is to get this thing settled at the table," he said.
But City Council President Mary Pat Clarke, the lone board member to oppose the contract, said the city should find a local firm to assist it in bargaining.
"These guys don't have a stake," she said.