Page 18 - June 2017 Newsletter

Lodge 7 obtains significant arbitration ruling on ET pay
Earlier this year, the Lodge won a signifi- cant victory when an arbitrator found that
the City has been violating the parties’ agreement since January 2015 by de-
nying out-of-grade pay to evidence technicians (“ET”) who are assigned to homicides, police-involved shootings
and other crime scenes for which the ETs would have received out-of-grade pay prior
to January 2015.
The grievance stems from the Department’s attempts
in late 2014 to change the assignment of ET and foren- sic investigator (“FI”) work. For nearly 20 years, it was undisputed that the City had authorized ETs to receive out-of-grade pay for performing Police FI work for more than two hours in a single tour of duty. At that time, the relevant Special Order (98-1) defined FI work to include: homicides; death investigations; police-related incidents in which a member has shot, seriously injured or fatally injured a person as a result of any weapon used; instances in which a Department member is seriously injured in the
performance of police duties; and investigations requir- ing the technical assistance of the Forensic Services Division Mobile Unit (e.g., gunshot residue collec- tion, drawing plats, use of cyanoacrylate/super- glue metal detection equipment, plaster casts for tire/foot impressions). The Department also au- thorized the out-of-grade pay for ETs who perform FI work in a 2011 Forensic Services Division Operat-
ing Procedure document.
Arbitrator Dan Nielsen, who issued the award, noted
that the Department tried unsuccessfully in the most re- cent negotiations to eliminate the FI title in the current agreement, which the Lodge flatly rejected. After the ne- gotiations, the Department nonetheless issued a revised training bulletin regarding the specific duties and func- tions within the Forensic Services Division, in essence eliminating the distinctions between the ET and FI re- sponsibilities that previously existed in the prior Depart- ment publications. Additionally, in November 2014, the Department also issued a new General Order and Special Order further removing any distinctions between the ET
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18 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JUNE 2017