A drug used to combat the recent spike in heroin overdoses in New England has become the center of a labor dispute between Somerville officials and a police union asking for a new contract.
Earlier this month, the state Department of Labor Relations decided it will hold a hearing in April to decide whether the use of the drug by Somerville police officers must be outlined as an additional duty in a new contract.
The Somerville Police Employees Association, which lodged the complaint in June and represents all city police employees except superior officers, argues the order to carry and administer the drug, Narcan, violates the union’s bargaining rights. The union’s contract with the city expired two years ago.
Narcan can be administered by injection or, more commonly in Massachusetts, as a nasal spray, and lasts 30 to 90 minutes.
Officials say the drug, which revives overdose victims by displacing opiates from the brain temporarily, is relatively cheap and easy to use, though responders must undergo training. There are no side effects and no harm is caused if it is inadvertently used on someone who is not overdosing.
Somerville police will continue to carry Narcan before the labor relations department renders a decision, city and union officials said.
“We understand this is an important issue, and the union is not opposed to using Narcan,” said Mike McGrath, the union’s president. “We are seeking to bargain about important issues, including officer safety, liability, and training.”
But city officials say the union’s stance could lead to overdose deaths if the state rules that officers do not have to carry the drug before a new contract is signed. They argue unions in other cities might decide to file similar complaints should the ruling favor the Somerville police union.
“I believe the majority of our officers embrace this responsibility,” Mayor Joseph Curtatone said on Thursday. “While we respect the unions, this is about helping our community.”
Since the Somerville Fire Department began carrying Narcan in April, 16 people have been saved from overdoses with the nasal spray, according to city officials. Police, who were ordered to carry it in June over the objection of the union, have saved two people from overdoses using Narcan. Somerville has had nine fatalities from heroin overdoses so far this year.
The labor dispute comes as municipalities across the state expand the use of Narcan among first responders, measures taken to combat the opioid scourge that has plagued New England.
Back in March, Governor Deval Patrick declared a public health emergency, mandating that all emergency workers and police in the state, as well as family members of drug users, be given access to Narcan.
In Boston, emergency responders administered Narcan 315 times from Jan. 1 through June 30, a 33 percent increase over the same period last year.
In Taunton, which became a symbol of the heroin epidemic when it was hit with 52 opioid overdoses in three weeks in March, police are preparing to start using the drug this winter, Lieutenant Eric Nichols said. The Fire Department began carrying Narcan earlier this year, and since then, the number of overdoses has abated, he said.
Officials in other municipalities say their unions have not raised similar objections to those of the Somerville police union. A spokeswoman for the Department of Labor Relations said they have not received similar complaints.
Somerville Fire Chief Kevin Kelleher said that although he has not heard any concerns from employees since the department started carrying Narcan, he would not be surprised if the firefighters asked that they be compensated for the new duty in a future contract. Unlike Somerville’s police officers, the city’s firefighters are working on an active contract.
In Brockton, where opioid overdoses remain a problem, city officials say, the Fire Department began using it in February, and police followed suit weeks later. Unions for both have current contracts with the city, and did not ask for changes to be made after they started carrying Narcan, Mayor Bill Carpenter said.
Oliver Ortega can be reached at oliver.ortega@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @ByOliverOrtega.