Protesters picket US mayors conferenceHours before the annual U.S. Conference of Mayors even started,…
Protesters picket US mayors conference
Firefighters' protest taints RI's imageAs the Providence Firefighters’ Union is preparing to picket …
Long labor dispute affects mayors conf.A national mayors’ conference that was to showcase Rhode Island…
More drop out of mayors' conference
Officials scared away by firefighter labor dispute
Updated: Wednesday, 10 Jun 2009, 4:56 PM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 09 Jun 2009, 6:22 PM EDT
Providence, R.I. (WPRI) - Days after the White House pulled Vice President Joe Biden from this week's Conference of Mayors in Providence, about 100 more federal officials are dropping out of the event.
The reason? They do not want to cross the picket line of Providence firefighters, who are planning to protest over their long-running contract dispute with the city.
But organizers insist they're focusing on the hundreds of mayors and their families who will be attending, and not those who will not.
"It doesn't really affect me," says event director Kibbe Reilly. "We still have 900 other guests to take care of and probably more than that. We may still have a thousand people coming."
This is the first time Providence has hosted the Conference of Mayors. Reilly says it's a chance to showcase Providence to the rest of the country.
"We're very excited about it and looking forward to showing off our incredible city."
The Conference of Mayors begins this Friday, and runs through Tuesday, June 16.
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