Race divides fire test issue

Race divides fire test issue

William Kaempffer, Register Staff
05/11/2004

NEW HAVEN — The firefighter union wants to sue the city over two aborted promotional exams, but some minority firefighters and the local NAACP say the union should butt out.

The group of black firefighters says it’s not fair to have their union dues finance a lawsuit that they would oppose, and maintain that any suit would only inflame existing racial tensions.

"Our union is supposed to fight for all of us," said Lt. Gary Tinney, who is black and a member of the executive board. "The union is supposed to represent the whole, not represent the few."

Firefighter Patrick Egan, the union president, said the decision to pursue a lawsuit comes down to right and wrong, not race.

Tonight and Wednesday, Firefighter Local 825 is scheduled to have a membership vote to authorize legal action against the city or its Civil Service Commission for not certifying two exams earlier this year for fire lieutenant and captain.

If the membership votes in favor, it would authorize a legal challenge.

Egan said the union routinely examines city decisions that affect the Fire Department. In those cases, if the union determines the city violated the charter or the contract, then the union decides whether to challenge it, he said.

"It’s nothing more than that," Egan said.

"Not everybody (in the union) is going to agree all the time. I don’t think everybody agrees all the time on any issue."

In March, the Civil Service Commission threw out the two exams after months of debate and questions of racism. The city administration argued that the test results shouldn’t be accepted because of racial inequities. No blacks scored well enough on either test to be considered for immediate promotion.

Lists are valid for two years, so it’s possible that some African-Americans could have been promoted before the lists expired.

When the Civil Service Commission failed to certify the test, many black firefighters and activists applauded. Many white firefighters said the decision amounted to reverse discrimination and are considering a lawsuit of their own.

The white firefighters have a right to sue, Tinney said, but the union shouldn’t do their bidding.

"This position is unfair," he said. "He’s (Egan) taking a side and he’s supposed to be neutral."

Scot X. Esdaile, president of the Greater New Haven NAACP, said he would request a meeting with Egan and John W. Olsen, president of the Connecticut AFL-CIO, in hopes of mediating the situation. Local 825 belongs to the AFL-CIO.

While no decision has been made, Esdaile said, suing the union hasn’t been ruled out.

In an 8-3 vote last month, the executive board voted to pursue legal remedy, pending approval from the membership.

Tinney, along with the two other minority members of the panel, voted no.

Tinney predicted any lawsuit would throw the department into turmoil and widen the racial divide that rubbed raw during the test controversy.

Egan, however, said firefighters deserve a definitive answer on the city’s promotional practices. "There has to be a definitive decision. Where does it end and what happens next time?" he asked. "The decision of the board seemed clearly driven by political pressure from City Hall and that’s exactly what civil service isn’t supposed to be about."

A testing company hired by the city administered the two exams last year. In January, when the initial results came back, city officials said there was a problem with disparate impact on minorities. Two months later, the Civil Service Commission voted ended in a 2-2 deadlock, effectively killing the tests.