Page 5 - January 2020 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
I hear you...good and loud
The members have spoken.
Or they are speaking.
And Lodge 7 is listening.
One of the best parts of being the Chicago FOP president is the opportunity to hit
roll calls and other events to talk with members. I appreciate them for expressing their greatest challenges and what is causing them the most pain. We are working to respond, keeping in mind that our foremost priority is protecting members’ rights.
I’ve been hearing questions from detectives about what is going to happen with Area 4 and Area 5 opening. We’ve had a meeting with the City and the Department’s Manage- ment and Labor Affairs section to figure out how the bids are going to work. We’ve put your questions to them:
If they cut down the number of detectives in Area North, will there be fewer openings there?
If you are in Area North and want to stay there, are there going to be enough openings for every- body who wants to stay?
If you are in Area North, do you have to bid for Area North?
Does everybody bid or just the people who want to leave?
There could be a superbid, but that is becoming less and less favorable. Whatever is decided, we
have to make sure we are protecting members’ rights.
Of course, members are always asking about what’s going on with the contract or, more specifical-
ly, what’s the status of the arbitration. We are waiting to pick an arbitrator, going through the list we have been given to see who we think will be fair. We are closely monitoring the arbitration that the sergeants, lieutenants and captains are going through to see how that will impact our situation.
I am reminding members that while the sergeant, lieutenants and captains are part of the Labor Management Cooperation Committee (LMCC) that administers benefits, we are not bound by the LMCC restrictions. We won an arbitration several years ago to get that right, and it could very well provide some advantages and leverage when we begin our arbitration.
What ticks me off is the false information that seems to circulate. And some of that winds up irritat- ing members. Case in point is that we’ve had members tell us their personal days are being cancelled so the department can send them to training required by the consent decree. They are hearing that the consent decree takes precedence over our contract.
That’s absolutely false.
Every time we have been notified about this problem, we have brought it to the attention of Man- agement and Labor Affairs, and it has been corrected.
Let’s reiterate this because we can’t say it enough: The consent decree does not supersede our con- tract. In fact, many things in the consent decree are in direct conflict with the contract. And in those cases, the contract takes precedence.
And let me say this again: I have no intention of giving up any of our rights. For example, the De- partment is trying to eliminate three-day-off groups. We will negotiate that. We negotiated our sched- ule. We negotiated our start times. We’re not going to give up any of this without getting something in return. So we’re asking for an emergency stay against the City eliminating three-day-off groups.
When making my rounds, I also hear from older members who want to know when the contract will be done. They are concerned about whether healthcare is going to be there while they can still use for retirement. This affects me personally because, well, I am an older member, too. We have ev- ery intention of keeping the cost of healthcare where it is. Or going to back to where it should be: free. This is something that will come up during the arbitration, as well as trying to lower the age.
Some members have spoken up about meritorious promotions. And most of them are happy that we made an agreement with the City not to make any meritorious promotions. I feel we at the FOP have heard from many members on the list to be promoted. Most of them are thrilled. And they should be. It has not been fair to the people who actually studied to take the test. It was about time we changed it.
Finally, here’s something I can’t say enough about: Our members have done an outstanding job getting guns off the street. You took more than 11,000 guns off the street in 2019. Pat yourselves on the back, because you did a great job. At the same time, you kept the homicide rate under 500. In fact, the 490 reported murders as of Dec. 31 were 13 percent lower than 2018 and a 35 percent drop from 2016, when the city reported its highest number (756) in two decades.
The mayor should give you all a big raise and soon, because you have done your part. And you didn’t go out on strike.
CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JANUARY 2020 5
KEVIN GRAHAM