Page 5 - 2018 July Newsletter

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
My thoughts on the Consent Decree and Janus
I know I have spoken about this many times, but it’s important to bring you up to date on the status of the Consent Decree case. In June, Chicago Lodge 7 filed a lawsuit against Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan to intervene in the Consent Decree. Among other reasons cited, we stated that Madigan does not have the basis to bring the lawsuit against the City of Chicago. Until various fringe groups stated what they want out of the Consent Decree, it was hard for the Lodge to have a basis on which to file the lawsuit.
After we filed the lawsuit, the attorney general decided that it might be a good idea to talk about language, and that it was both in her interest and our interest to work it out. At this point – I am writing this at the end of June – nothing has
changed. However, we are working very hard to try and protect language in our collective bargaining agreement and our members from ridiculous attacks upon our contract.
The second very important topic I would like address is the ruling on the Janus case that the U.S. Supreme Court handed down in June. This basically states members do not have to pay fair-share fees to the union but can still receive benefits of collective bargaining, such as filing grievances and receiving representation in arbitration. (For additional information on the Janus decision, see stories on pages 18-19 and 29-31 in this issue of Lodge 7 Magazine.)
Although most of you already know it, I will restate the obvious: Unlike other unions, it is not simply about wages and working conditions for our members. We spend a great deal of money on legal defense, and you can only participate in the Lodge 7 Legal Defense Plan if you are a dues-paying member of FOP Lodge 7.
I have always stated if you don’t want to belong to the Fraternal Order of Police, you don’t have to. But it’s like driving a car without insurance: You better hope that no one crashes into you. And even if you are the best driver, you can still be involved in an accident.
Many of our members find themselves calling us for legal defense simply because they were on the scene of an incident that the City wants to investigate. Other agencies that might also want to investigate you when you are involved in an incident include COPA, the Inspec- tor General, the State’s Attorney Integrity Unit, various federal agencies and several more government agencies. For these matters, you will need an attorney, and our members have requested such help. Most of our officers cannot afford to hire an attorney to be present every time they are asked to give a statement. At $400 an hour, the costs are insurmountable for such help, and that is why the FOP Legal Defense Plan is so vital to our interests.
As many of you also know, we are more than 17,000 strong, including our active and retired members. Our members want to belong to FOP and continue their membership because they know with strength in numbers, we can get more accomplished.
Presently, we have only one active Chicago Police Officer who is a fair-share member. Ev- eryone else is a member of Lodge 7, and these officers enjoy the benefits of FOP representa- tion at a time when our profession is under severe attacks and challenges. I do not expect a lot of change, if any at all. At any time, partners in beat cars can have arguments and disagree about a wide array of topics. But when it comes to backing up each other, we have always been there for each other. And we always will be. It is one of our greatest attributes, and I am proud to be a Chicago Police Officer and a member of the Fraternal Order of Police Chicago Lodge 7.
KEVIN GRAHAM
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JULY 2018 5