BOSTON — Mayor Thomas M. Menino scored a much-needed victory in his desperate battle to close a whopping $140 million budget gap when he secured a wage freeze last night from the city’s 350-member paramedics union.
The Boston Police Patrolmens Association-EMS division voted to give up a scheduled 2.5 percent raise by a lopsided 196 to 12, becoming the largest union yet to take the one-year freeze. The raise would have cost the city $720,000.
Union chief James Orsino said the vote reflected members’ desire to save as many jobs as possible.
“When you got two guys working close together, you’re not going to sit in a truck and look the other guy in the eye and say, ‘It’s OK for you to go,’ ” Orsino said.
Sam Tyler, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, said landing the EMTs could get larger unions that have rejected the wage freeze, like the cops and teachers, to fall in line.
“It’s a big deal,” said Sam Tyler, president of the watchdog Boston Municipal Research Bureau. ”It shows momentum.”
Menino has argued unions that don’t take the wage freeze will bear the brunt of the layoffs.
Behind the scenes, the mayor has offered union leaders something they could take to their members: City workers eligible to retire next year would receive a one-time, lump-sum payment totaling 8 percent of their salary on their way out the door.
The move, backed by Tyler, saves the city paying older, higher-salaried workers who might postpone retirement.
Faced with a worldwide economic meltdown, Menino has said a wage freeze is necessary to slash costs and blunt painful layoffs.
The School Committee is considering axing nearly 350 teaching jobs to save money.
Two other unions have taken the freeze. The 61-member Boston School Police Patrolmen’s Association accepted a wage freeze that saved the city $150,000 when they approved a new three-year contract Wednesday. Last month, the 245-member Boston Superior Officers Federation agreed to forgo a raise this year, saving an estimated $1 million.
