Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels did or didn't cross a Rhode Island picket line

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels didn't cross a picket line Friday, his staff members say. But a local union official in Providence, R.I. says he did.

Nickels will be named the president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors on Monday, and is spending this weekend attending meetings on such issues as job creation, health care and transportation.

Across the street from the convention center, local firefighters — as promised — formed a picket line to publicize their contract dispute with Providence Mayor David Cicilline.

Seattle Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said Thursday that Nickels — a longtime union supporter — would not cross a picket line. The hotel where the mayor is staying is connected to the convention center, and therefore Nickels is not crossing the line, according to his staff.

"There is a labor protest across the street from the convention center and we are respectful of that," Nickels spokesman Alex Fryer said in an e-mail Friday. "The Mayor is not attending any events associated with the U.S. Conference of Mayors outside the convention center and not crossing the line."

But Paul Doughty, president of Local 799 of the Providence International Association of Firefighters, said Nickels' presence inside the building constitutes crossing.

"If he's in that building, he's crossing a picket line, and it's a no-cross picket line," Doughty said. "A picket line is more a philosophical thing than it is about physically crossing a picket line."

Ceis had said Thursday that Nickels was in talks with union officials to see whether the mayor could attend conference meetings without crossing the line. "Obviously," Ceis said, "he's got to be at his own installation as president."

Doughty on Friday wouldn't comment on any talks.

Nickels' promotion to the presidency of the mayors' organization gives him a more prominent national role in urban issues, as he seeks a third term as mayor. But the meeting in Providence has been overshadowed by the labor protest.

Members of the Obama administration who had been scheduled to appear at the conference, including Vice President Joseph Biden, canceled because they didn't want to cross the picket line or take sides in the decadelong dispute. Among those canceling were members of the Obama administration from this area: former King County Executive Ron Sims, former Washington Gov. Gary Locke and former Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske.

Six major local unions gave Nickels their sole endorsement a month ago.

But his decision to attend the mayors conference could jeopardize his chances of an endorsement from the Seattle firefighters union in his re-election campaign. Local 27 endorsed Nickels in his two other mayoral bids.

Kenny Stuart, president of Seattle's union, said he would talk to Providence union officials to determine whether the mayor had been supportive of their action.

"It's gonna matter to us as far as our relationship to our mayor," he said.

For the past two years, Nickels has served as vice president of the mayors organization. A few years back, Nickels headed a campaign to get 120 mayors to agree to lower emissions to help fight climate change. More than 900 mayors joined the cause.

Today, Nickels is scheduled to speak on cap-and-trade legislation. He will be honored Monday evening as the organization's new president.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com