In 2014, City Councilor Michael Passero, a city firefighter who is running for mayor, called in sick for 25 shifts, a total of 300 hours of sick time. That represented about 15 percent of the shifts he was scheduled to work that year for the New London Fire Department.

The firefighters’ contract states, “Sick leave shall be used by an employee solely because of illness or off the job injury.”

I asked Passero — who is a fit 59-year-old — if he was really too sick to work that often? Or perhaps there were a few mental health days in there? He took 11 of the days between May and August.

If he called in sick, Passero told me, it was because he was sick.

“You got me in a tough position,” he said. “Because I really don’t want to concede to tell you what my medical issues are.”

In any event, he said, he is entitled to the sick-time benefit.

“As long as it is used for legitimate illness, it is a contractual benefit that has accrued to me,” Passero said.

His sick time in 2014 was among the highest in the department, not counting those who took longer periods off under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.

Passero, who is seeking the Democratic nomination in his effort to replace Mayor Daryl Justin Finizio, knows a lot about labor rights. In addition to being a firefighter, he is a labor attorney who represents unions in negotiations. Admitted to the Connecticut Bar in 1992 after earning a law degree from the University of Connecticut, he works for the law firm of John M. Creane in Milford. When he is not knocking down fires he is standing up for unions.

If elected, Passero said, he would retire from the department and suspend his legal work.

How will this career union member/labor negotiator represent the city in negotiations with the unions? He will advocate for the interests of the city, Passero assured me.

“When I’m the mayor the city is going to be my client,” he said.

Right now, the only two choices in the race are two Democrats, both proud of their pro-labor records. It might help to get a Republican in the campaign to make a case for fiscal austerity and trimming labor costs. But no one has yet come off the GOP sideline even though the game is now well underway.

As for the copious use of sick time, it increases overtime expenses, which has been a problem for the city. In 2014, the NLFD paid out $1.2 million in overtime, including the $13,903 paid to Passero when he filled in for other firefighters who were off.

The mayoral candidate called his sick time in 2014 an outlier. When I first called Passsero about the 300 hours, he denied it, saying it must be a mistake or an intentional twisting of data by the Finizio administration in responding to my freedom of information request. Then he checked his own records and confirmed it.

“It was a surprise because I wouldn’t be conscious of how much I was using except for those slips I gave you,” he explained.

In 2014 he took six days in February, time off he said was associated with having a cancerous growth removed from his nose, boosting his sick time that year.

As a follow-up, I asked for fiscal-year numbers — July 1 to June 30 — and learned Passero took 180 hours of sick time in fiscal-year 2013, 228 hours in fiscal-year 2014, and 216 hours so far this fiscal year. Passero said he still has hundreds of hours banked, should he have a prolonged illness to deal with.

Firefighters in the city work 42 regular hours weekly on a rotating shift of two day shifts, 48 hours off, then two overnight shifts, followed by 72 hours off.

Though the contract gives the chief or his designee the authority to investigate absences due to sick leave, there is no record of the city doing so or even questioning the requests, at least in writing.

Fire Chief Henry Kydd told me he doesn’t see it as his role to question if people are sick. As for controlling overtime costs, it is very difficult, he said, because he must maintain minimum shift levels and if someone is out, or a position is vacant, he has to assign extra time to other firefighters.

“It’s frustrating,” said Kydd, about the complaints of overruns in the overtime account. “We tell them we need more (money) and they don’t budget it.”

Sort of how it is frustrating for many New Londoners to keep paying higher taxes, even though in many cases their labor benefits are not so generous.

Paul Choiniere is the editorial page editor.

Twitter: #Paul_Choiniere