Fire union boss says he can work with Trotter

Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local 2 President, James E. McNally, Monday said he can work with Chicago's first Black Fire Commissioner, Cortez Trotter.

McNally made his remarks during a Fire Department graduation held at Navy Pier where he was joined by Mayor Daley and Fire Commissioner James Joyce. There, Joyce and Daley told reporters they knew nothing about the Illinois Labor Board's investigation of the 69 W. Washington fire that cost six people their lives.

But the spotlight was on McNally, who angered Blacks and whites years ago, when he wore blackface in the African American community to protest affirmative action. He told reporters he can work with Trotter when he takes over the helms at the end of this month.

The union president did say, "If there is a move to reduce the number of Advance Life Support ambulances and changing them to Basic Life Support because you have a higher skill level, higher medical training level for the paramedics as opposed to Emergency Medical Training...," then he would oppose that.

McNally said the current contract calls for 59 ambulances. "If they want to bring something up in negotiations, they're welcome to do that, but as it stands now, we would be supporting anything that would reduce the number of companies."

Asked about legislation introduced in the City Council to create a civilian review board, McNally said: "It's up to them...but we have a contract that deals with issues like that...disciplinary infractions...."

"This old issue has been such an aberration and it is just an isolated thing...," McNally said. "You seem focused on negative things, possibly because they're such an oddity because most things that are done by this department, every day...are positive things.

"I don't know if you need to start forming completely new boards as a knee jerk reaction to a situation," McNally said.

Asked what is the delay for Fire Department mandatory drug and alcohol testing, McNally said: "We had all along a process in place for testing to see if anyone is impaired...called the Just Cause Rationale....

"If anybody appears to be impaired there are mechanisms in place right now and it's been that way for years."

He said the random drug and alcohol testing is new, and that "it isn't done in many fire departments" to his knowledge.

McNally believes he will work well with newly appointed Fire Department Comm. Cortez Trotter. He said his experience with Trotter in the past "has been positive" and while they won't agree on everything, he said "we can reasonably agree on things as well.

"Cortez Trotter is a sharp guy, and I think he'll do well in this job," the union president said. "We have the same objectives, the best trained, the best staffed, best equipped Fire Department in the country....

"We may have different ideas on how to get there sometimes, but, it's the same objective. I think that he has that focus and so do we. I think we'll do all right there," McNally said.

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