BOSTON (Reuters) - Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry canceled plans on Sunday to address a U.S. mayors conference this week at a hotel that is likely to be ringed by picketing police officers."Senator Kerry will not cross the picket line and therefore will not address the U.S. Conference of Mayors," said spokesman David Wade.
Asked if Kerry and the mayors would meet somewhere that police were not picketing, Wade said: "We don't have any information on that yet."
Kerry had been scheduled to speak on Monday morning at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, where police officers -- who have been working without a contract for two years -- had a picket line on Saturday. Kerry would upset unions across the country if he crossed a picket line.
"John Kerry has never crossed picket lines in his time in public life," said Wade.
The Boston Police Patrolmen's Association is asking for a raise of about 17 percent over four years, while Boston's Democratic mayor, Thomas Menino, the host of the conference, has offered 11.9 percent.
Several weeks ago, picketing police officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians delayed the start of work to turn the city's FleetCenter sports arena into a political hall for the Democratic National Convention at the end of July.
