Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

Providence Mayor David N. Cicilline planned to meet Wednesday afternoon with Paul A. Doughty, president of the firefighters union local that has said it will picket this week's meeting of the nation's mayors in Providence, according to officials of the union and the mayors organization.

Cicilline's office said, however, that no such meeting is on the mayor's schedule. Doughty was a no-show in meeting scheduled this morning between the two.

Jeff Zack, a spokesman for the International Association of Fire Fighters in Washington, said the local is prepared to drop its threat to picket the conference if Doughty and Cicilline come to an agreement.

It is not clear whether Vice President Joseph R. Biden and other top Obama administration officials will turn about once more and attend the mayors convention, which had been built around their speeches, plus nuts-and-bolts policy meetings with dozens of officials from federal agencies.

Tom Cochran, executive director of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, said he understands that Biden could still attend the weekend conference if the mayor and the firefighters come to an accommodation by Friday morning. Biden had been scheduled to give an address at a Monday luncheon.

Biden and the other Obama administration officials agreed to appear at the annual convention late in May. But the administration abruptly cancelled their appearances last Friday, to the consternation of the mayors.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs issued a statement Friday that said it has "always respected picket lines and Administration officials will not cross this one.'' Gibbs said the Obama administration was "taking no position'' in a longstanding labor dispute between the city and the local union.

Cochran disagreed. "In a way, the White House has taken sides with the unions against the mayors,'' he said Monday.

Also involved in seeking a way out of the messy standoff, according to Cochran: Harold Schaitberger, president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, and former Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr.

 Tags  cicilline mayors obama Providence RI

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