Page 18 - January 2018

A ray of sunlight amidst the dark
As we start the New Year, one thing we know will not change is the distorted media cover- age facing Police Officers and Lodge 7. Last month, some of you may have seen a Spe-
demonstrate, which the article sorely fails to point out, is that the City has been violating Police Officers’ rights under the contract, time and time again. And those numbers high- light how aggressively Lodge 7 protects its members
PAT
PAT
FIORETTO
FIORETTO
cial Report issued by the Chicago Tribune/ ProPublica Illinois, captioned, “A Secretive Appeals Process Quietly Reducing Punish- ment for Cops after Findings of Misconduct.”
FOP
Lab Rep t
from the City’s illegal conduct.
Let’s review some basic labor law for those readers of
the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois who may have little or no background.
At first look, it got my blood boiling, as I
am sure it did yours. Secretive process? Findings of misconduct? Most of the article highlights the lack of public knowledge in understanding what Lodge 7 does for its members and how the legal protections afforded under the collective bar-
gaining agreement must be safeguarded from abuses. However, upon further reflection, the article contained some positive data worth noting.
When an article begins, “A secretive appeals system has been knocking down the punishments of Chicago Police Officers no matter how serious their misconduct...,” where do you begin to find any positive takeaways? Well, read on. The very next para- graph (albeit in an accusatory tone) states, “In the first exam- ination of its kind, the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois found that 85% of disciplinary cases handled through the Chi- cago Police Department’s grievance process since 2010 led to officers receiving shorter suspensions or, in many cases, having punishments overturned entirely.”
What’s wrong with that? I’ll take those stats. Having been a member of the law firm primarily responsible for handling Lodge 7’s grievances over the past four years, what these stats
The Illinois State Labor Relations Act protects the rights of public employees, such as Police Officers, in part, to join a union, which is the cornerstone of all employees’ rights. As mentioned in one of my earlier articles, late Mayor Jane Byrne granted Lodge 7 recognition, thereby obligating the City to bar- gain with Lodge7 over a contract. Contracts such as the one be- tween Lodge 7 and the City of Chicago regulate the terms and conditions of the employees, which contain the wage scale, the hours of work, disciplinary restriction/procedures, seniority provisions and, most importantly, a grievance and arbitration procedure that allows the parties to use a system in which any
issues over the contract will be resolved.
Another basic right found in virtually all contracts is a “just
cause” provision. In essence, “just cause” is the standard which management must prove when seeking to discipline an employ- ee. In the Lodge 7 Agreement, the provision is found in Section 8.1, which states, “No Officer covered by this Agreement shall be suspended, relieved from duty or disciplined in any manner without just cause.”
Article 9 of the parties’ agreement sets forth the procedures to be followed when an aggrieved Police Officer (or “grievant”) files
18 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JANUARY 2018