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by GLENN THRUSH AND WILLIAM MURPHY
The union representing 8,900 city firefighters said yesterday it would go to binding arbitration to get a new contract.
The Uniformed Firefighters Association blamed Mayor Michael Bloomberg, saying his administration had not bargained in good faith. The administration said it stood ready to continue talks.
The sense of urgency on city labor contracts has lessened since late June, when a state arbitration panel awarded raises of about 10.25 percent over two years to city police officers.
Since the salaries of different city workers are loosely linked, it is unlikely that firefighters and other unions will get a better deal than the police, represented by the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association.
City teachers are expected to return to work tomorrow without a new contract, although Bloomberg had said a pact might be worked out by the start of the new school year.
The president of the firefighters' union, Stephen Cassidy, said his union was not even offered the PBA deal, which was handed down by an arbitration panel of the state Public Employment Relations Board.
"We want the PBA offer," Cassidy said at a news conference on the steps of City Hall. He said the city made demands that were "above and beyond what was extracted from the PBA." Cassidy didn't elaborate.
In response, the Bloomberg administration issued a statement saying, "Labor contracts are best settled at the bargaining table and the city has been, and continues to be, ready to negotiate any time."
Firefighters have been working without a contract since June 2002. They approved that pact in January of 2003.
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