By Jane Prendergast
Enquirer staff writer

Five black Cincinnati firefighters turned to federal court Monday for help in their ongoing dispute with the union, this time suing to stop paying union dues.

The firefighters, including a supervisor and two of the chief's relatives, left the union more than three years ago, saying Local 48 of the International Association of Firefighters did not effectively represent its African-American members. The money they're suing over is a paycheck deduction - about $22 a month the union calls their fair share determination - required because the nonmembers still benefit from wage negotiations, benefits and representation on grievances.

The lawsuit, also filed against the city, Mayor Charlie Luken, City Manager Valerie Lemmie as well as other department supervisors, includes a request for a refund for all nonunion firefighters, dating back two years. It says the union has failed to provide an audit of its books.

"IAFF union officials simply want nonunion firefighters to shut up and pay up,'' said Stefan Gleason, vice president of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation, a nonprofit agency in suburban Washington that gives free legal aid to workers who believe their civil or human rights have been violated by unions.

The firefighters who filed the suit are James Wright, president of the Cincinnati African-American Firefighters Association; Jeff Harris and Reginald Hocker, former CAFA presidents; District Chief Howard Reed; and firefighter Harold Wright. James Wright is a cousin of Chief Robert Wright. Harold Wright is also a relative of the chief's.

Union officials rejected the allegations.

"This is another frivolous, desperate attack by desperate individuals to smear the name of Local 48,'' said union spokesman Doug Stern.

He said the union conducts annual audits and makes the results available to any firefighter who wants them. The audits, which Stern said determine how much of the union's time is spent on things the nonmembers still pay for, are what the nonmembers' fees are calculated upon.

"Everyone is represented equally under that contract,'' he said.

Of the city's 800 firefighters, Stern said 98 are not in the union. Union members pay about $5 more a month in dues.

James Wright and other black firefighters filed a complaint last September with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging the union was racist. That complaint is pending.

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E-mail jprendergast@enquirer.com