Page 20 - October Newsletter

Lodge files yet another charge with the Labor Board
I am beginning to sound like a broken record. It wasonlySeptemberwhenIwroteaboutthe Lodge presenting its case to the adminis- trative law judge over the City’s pattern
of unilaterally changing terms and con- ditions of employment: the implemen- tation of its “Complaint Register Matrix Guidelines” (setting forth new parameters for discipline) and the City-wide expansion of
the Body Worn Camera Pilot Program, both without satisfy- ing its bargaining obligations. As I stressed in my article, the City is obligated to bargain over the impact such changes have on Police Officers’ safety and discipline. Some of you may recall that this is the second such formal State Labor Relations hearing that which involves the City’s unilateral decisions on matters that impact what we call “mandatory subjects of bargaining.”
On Sept. 21, the Lodge filed yet another unfair labor prac- tice charge with the same agency. The City and the Lodge are in the beginning stages of bargaining a successor agree- ment. Notwithstanding the parties’ imminent bargaining,
beginning in June 2017, the City unilaterally modified var- ious use-of-force general orders (including firearms discharge incidents, preliminary investigations and officer-involved death investigations), without bar- gaining with the Lodge over its impact or effect on bargaining unit employees’ terms and conditions of
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Lab Rep t
employment. This practice must stop.
The City will inevitably argue that it has listened
and solicited suggestions from all interested parties, in- cluding the Lodge. However, the City misses the point: The City must first bargain with the Lodge over the impact or ef- fect that a new use-of-force policy will have on bargaining unit employees’ terms and conditions of employment. Not surprisingly, the City has refused to bargain with the Lodge, despite repeated demands. Indeed, although we had two face-to-face meetings with the City in May, we were told in no uncertain terms that the City was not bargaining with the Lodge.
Overall, the new orders fail to mention any compliance with the current collective bargaining agreement and, in particular, the Bill of Rights protections afforded to Police
20 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2017