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So she initially got involved to ascertain what should be base- line information for every member.
“I wanted to know the big picture regarding all our benefits,” Vrentas continued.
But her desire to get even more involved has grown to what should be an increased baseline for every member.
“If you don’t get involved, you’re not taking advantage of what’s out there,” she added. “Honestly, I don’t know all the benefits. I had not read through the contract. I had pretty much taken for granted that things are being done and I’m being pro- tected. There is an added level of security knowing what protec- tions and resources are out there for you.”
Many members know those resources as ones that cause them to find the union when they are in trouble, being threat- ened with disciplinary action or have been denied compen- sation like time due. But 19th District Unit Rep Carlo Rubino was astonished at the extent of the disconnect when a group of young officers he nominated were honored with Lodge 7 Officer Awards in January 2020.
“They didn’t know what the FOP was,” comments Rubino, who has been on for 16 years and comes from a family of union reps with the NYPD.
Other members have a slightly more elevated connection with the Lodge like Jose Sanchez did before becoming a unit rep in 015 this past summer. He had 23 years on when he made this step up.
“I am at fault. I’m not going to sugar coat it. For 22 years, I was never in- volved,” he relates. “I knew the FOP would have events and I offered to do- nate. But now that I see what’s going on, I want to empower the younger officers to get involved. If we start getting that message out across the board, we can build morale. That’s the whole thing.”
Daniel had al-
ways been a watch
rep, but the events
of this past sum-
mer led him to step
up and speak up.
Beyond the Lodge
elections, he real-
ized that participation was more important than ever because of the way members suffered having to respond to a city over- run by protests and riots.
“I knew I had the available time and energy to make sure of- ficers’ rights are protected and that they knew their rights,” he reasons. “But we also need to step up to make sure we are not being ostracized by our administration. We have to let them know we’re here and we should not be treated wrongfully for things that are out of our power or didn’t even happen in our city.”
Daniel also wants to voice a message about getting involved for all members to hear:
26 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JANUARY 2021
“It’s more important than ever to get involved because this is not your dad’s police department anymore,” he adds. “Nothing is a given now. We have to understand that we must be more vigilant and more intentional with our actions, so we are not forgotten.”
Say it proud
If members want to get involved with the Lodge, where do they begin? A good place is to learn about the most impactful benefits offered.
First and foremost in this growing era of COPA presence and anti-police sentiment is the Lodge’s legal defense benefit. Pre- serving legal defense is enough of a reason to get involved if, God forbid, you should ever have to use it.
Secondly, is the Lodge’s never-ending effort to make sure the contract is honored. This is paramount to looking out for the welfare of the membership.
For these two reasons, alone, take the first step on the path to involvement by attending a roll call that Lodge leaders visit on a regular basis. The leadership is reaching out through attending roll calls and other mechanisms to make more members aware of reasons to get involved.
“Look, there is a lot of stuff that members don’t know,” reports Randy Galloway, a rep for Unit 50 at O’Hare who has been on 23 years. Galloway has been a union member since he was 18, serving with the Teamsters and UAW before coming on the job. So he knows what being involved is all about.
“You get to take care of members, make
sure their rights are adhered to and that they don’t get screwed over,” he details. “We need our voices to be rep- resented because we all have positive feelings about what we do, why we do it and how we do it.”
Increasing the flow of information led Matt Wagner to step up and become a watch rep in 010 this past summer. He had seen how members were not getting a monthly download of data about the Lodge’s work, so Wagner answered the call to keep sisters and brothers advised.
Loud and Clear: Members stepping up to the micro- phone at general membership meetings has been an indication of increasing involvement and participation.
The call to keep the information flowing downstream is perpetuating involve- ment. Think of it as a big game of telephone with the opportuni- ty to get accurate information through the line. That has already become a hallmark of the administration under new President
John Catanzara.
“Everybody is excited and that stems from the last leadership
that had a closed door, so nobody really knew what was going on,” Wagner adds. “The new leadership has been extremely open and fighting for us. You need to see how they are fighting for us.”
A dose of getting involved is not only good for you, but good for other members. Vrentas stepped up to be more informed but