Page 5 - July2019 FOP Magazine

CHICAGO LODGE 7
Official Magazine
President’s Report
FRATERNAL ORDER OF POLICE CHICAGO LODGE #7
EXECUTIVE BOARD
KEVIN GRAHAM
President
PATRICK J. MURRAY
First Vice President
Martin Preib
Second Vice President
Jay R. Ryan
Third Vice President
Greg Bella
Recording Secretary
Michael P. Garza
Financial Secretary
John Capparelli
Treasurer
Dean C. Angelo, Sr.
Immediate Past President
Sergeants-at-Arms
William Burns James Jakstavich Michael Mette
Trustees
Harold Brown Andrew Cantore Mark Donahue William Dougherty Pat Duckhorn Sergio Escobedo Fernando Flores Joseph Gentile Danny Gorman Ken Hauser Rick King Frank Quinn Carlos Salazar Ron Shogren Mark Tamlo Daniel Trevino Michael Underwood
Field Representatives
Robert Bartlett Rich Aguilar
Meeting with the mayor
about pensions, officer
wellness and the contract
With summer in full swing, I hope all members take extra precautions to be safe when they hit the streets every day and night. I was at the hospital recently with an off-duty officer who had been shot. I was with his family and before another 24 hours had passed, another officer was in the same hospital with injuries suffered in a vehicle accident.
Moving on to the monthly contract report, let me start with the pension. All the rights in the contract, and the persistence of the FOP staying on top of the City to fund the pension, mean very little if you don’t get a chance to enjoy your retirement.
So for all members who are on their pension and wanting to enjoy retire- ment, please note that I have already spoken to the mayor about making sure that the City is able to make pension payments. We gave her some ideas about how to put more money into the pension. We will not rest. We want to make sure that the pension is fully funded.
Speaking of the mayor, I finally had a meeting with her. We talked about what we can work on together, and one of the ideas was the pension. Another is officer wellness. We have to make sure that Department policies are not harming police officers. We need to make sure that they have enough time off to be with their families. We met for more than an hour, talking about how we not only must have time with our families, but also time with our brothers and sisters in the Department. There used to be more camaraderie in the Depart- ment, both during work hours and after hours. But that seems to have decreased over the years.
Although the contract is still moving slowly, we have made great progress during the past two months. I stated this in the June issue, but I must reiterate that it is extremely important that we negotiate all the items that we have on the table. Otherwise, it will be a problem if we have to go to arbitration for this contract. I’ve said it before – and I will say it again – any- one can bring the members a bad contract. A good contract takes time. We must prove what we say and back it up with factual evidence rather than just making demands. We have an excellent team working on the contract. The members of this crew are smart, articulate and have the knowledge and the ability to do the research to prove to the City, and eventually to an arbitrator if necessary, that we are correct about what we are asking for and what we are fighting against.
I made this statement in the media at the end of June: “I will not give up our rights under the contract simply to suit a social agenda.” Other people have worked tirelessly for the union to get us benefits and protections in the contract. We fought for them, and we need to protect them. They are there to ensure we receive FAIR treatment!
People have also asked about the sergeants, lieutenants and captains unions that have filed for arbitration. Please keep in mind that these unions have been without contracts a year longer than us, and they have far fewer items on their agendas to negotiate. I do want to make it clear that we have spoken with the sergeants, lieutenants and captains and the firefighters union, and we have done so since I took office more than two years ago.
On a personal note, we all lose officers we know on the job. Recently, someone I worked with in the 23rd and 19th districts years ago lost her battle with breast cancer. Avita Cortes ended her career in the 24th District and she will be missed by myself and many other peo- ple.
KEVIN GRAHAM
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JULY 2019 5