Page 18 - October 2019 FOP

For those keeping score, the Lodge has now filed no fewer than six unfair labor practice (ULP) charges against the City of Chicago since around the time the most current contract expired.
The latest charge, filed on Sept. 25, cen-
ters around the City’s decision to unilater-
ally modify how and when bargaining unit members record their hours. Specifically, effec-
tive Sept. 30, all bargaining unit employees were required to swipe in at the start of their tours and swipe out at the end of their tours utilizing an automated system, as set forth in Em- ployee Resource E02-03-04 ⁠— all without bargaining with the Lodge over any impact or effect on bargaining unit employ- ees’ terms and conditions of employment.
The Lodge has become a regular customer at the Illinois La- bor Relations Board, which is the state agency administering the State Labor Relations Act (the law governing the relation- ship between unions, members and public employers). Even though the current collective bargaining agreement between the Lodge and the City of Chicago expired on June 30, 2017, and the parties are currently negotiating a successor agree- ment, all the provisions contained in the agreement remain in
effect, including the wage scale, hours of work, disciplinary re- striction/procedures, seniority provisions and the griev-
ance and arbitration procedure.
As I have explained in previous articles, the City vi-
olates the act by unilaterally changing the status quo
on mandatory subjects of bargaining (or any possible impact on employees) without giving the union the
opportunity to bargain.
An issue is a mandatory subject of bargaining when it in-
volves the wages, hours and terms and conditions of employ- ment. How and when employees are disciplined must also be negotiated. It is well established that although a new time clock system (such as the Time and Attendance Swiping Pro- gram) is not a mandatory subject of bargaining per se, the City violates the act by failing to bargain over the impact of the new system.
The Lodge repeatedly objected to the implementation of the new Time and Attendance Swiping Program district-wide and raised many concerns with the City, all falling on deaf ears. The Lodge made it clear to the City that it reserved its right to object to any attempts by the City to circumvent its obliga- tions under the terms of the agreement and that any unilateral changes would be met with the appropriate legal challenge.
The City’s pattern of misconduct continues
PAT FIORETTO
18 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2019