The city and its firefighters' union will meet in the same room this week to lay out their smoldering differences.

And that's all you're going to know for some time, because the two days of testimony are closed to the public.

The two groups will make their arguments on pay, benefits and working conditions to three arbiters, one picked by the city, one by the firefighters' union, and one checked off a list by both. The arbitration is binding. All three arbiters are Philadelphia attorneys.

The Sunday News tried to get into the hearing. Our attorney with the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association noted that state Act III does not give the public access to arbitration hearings, but added:

"If you can get all parties to agree to your attendance, I don't see any provision that would prohibit it."

I wrote letters to two of the arbiters and talked to Mayor Rick Gray.

Mayor Gray and the city's arbiter were open to having the press attend.

The other arbiters were not. Walt De Treux, the "neutral" arbiter, replied by letter:

"I would not open the hearing ... without the unanimous agreement of the parties and the panel arbitrators. In this case, there is no such agreement."

I asked if he or the firefighters, or both, had an objection. He wrote:

"I don't have a personal stand on the request."

 The firefighters' arbiter, Thomas W. Jennings, made it clear in his letter that he was not on board with our request.

"The union believes that these proceedings will be inherently difficult and do not need the added pressure of a reporter sitting there."

As for the comment in my letter about allowing the public to know what is going on, he replied:

"I have never permitted a reporter in the room prior to this and have not experienced any situation in which one —or the other — party was unduly inhibited from making their media pitch."

That's my point. Each side can tell us what it wants us to hear. Isn't it better to have an independent reporter in the room for the testimony? After all, we sit in on murder trials, but we don't expect to be in the jury room.

The feud between the Gray administration and Local 319 is a hot one. To put it briefly, firefighters, working under an old contract, say their ranks have been slashed too deeply, leaving the city without the fire protection it needs. The city says that wouldn't be the case if firefighters agreed to a different schedule.

They disagree on many other issues. No word on whether they agree on the color of the firetrucks.

 You see the signs supporting city firefighters around the area; recently, the union put signs in front of the Fremont Street Station, saying there wasn't enough staffing to open it.

The mayor makes no bones about not liking the three-arbiter system, feeling it puts the city at a disadvantage and doesn't take into consideration its finances.

"Over half the city's personnel costs are determined by this process," he said. "Because these hearings have not been open ... little public understanding exists as to the basis for expending such a large portion of taxpayer funds."

For now, everyone will have his say behind closed doors, while in the end, city residents and businesses will pay the price while getting only secondhand information.

This makes sense?

Lesson not learned
Daughter Abigail is not a student of history. "History should stay in the past," the 16-year-old told me as she did her homework.

Marv Adams can be reached by email at madams@lnpnews.com or mail: Sunday News, P.O. Box 1328, Lancaster, PA 17608-1328.