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“They couldn’t provide us with any confirmation, so we were thinking there were none,” he extrapolated. “Most officers’ tattoos end up being a topic of conversation when we interact with the public. You start talking about it and it definitely helps with communication.”
So when the Department opted to order a significant change to the working condition without clearing it through the union per the terms of the collective bargain- ing agreement, the Lodge contacted its labor law firm of Baum Sigman Auerbach & Neuman, Ltd., and Fioretto. He went through the response options, ruling out filing for injunctive relief and filing a lawsuit because a group of of- ficers actually did file a suit and lost.
“You can’t file that kind of lawsuit in federal court,” Fioretto reminded. “We quickly learned that filing a griev- ance and unfair labor practice charge because it was a sig- nificant change to the working condition and unilateral imposition by the Department was improper.”
The Lodge decided to file a class-action grievance, which requires an officer to be named as the lead in the action. Francis stepped up to take that lead, and there could not have been a better front man.
eral counsel for the Illinois State Labor Relations Board. The binding arbitration hearing was scheduled for Sept. 9. Fioretto and Harvey began the process began to find of-
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Anybody who has ever been to a Lodge general meeting has seen Francis’ devotion to the union through his role as sergeant-at-arms. Additionally, Francis wears ink up and down his arms, tattoos he has had since his military ser- vice before becoming an officer. Interestingly, part of his art chronicles his passion for martial arts and includes a tattoo of a samurai. “Back in the day, the samurai was your local lawman,” Francis submitted.
Now, an officer with such devotion to the power of the ink might object to the new order because of its attack of freedom of expression. But that’s not what this grievance was about.
“I’ve had visible tattoos from the minute I went to the academy. The city knew about it and never told me I would have to cover them up,” Francis reasoned. “They never had a rule forbidding visible tattoos, so (the order) in a way was discrimination. The Department should have come to the union first.”
But because the Department didn’t, and because of the unfair labor practice, the Lodge was able to delay any disciplinary action against officers with visible tattoos by moving forward to grievance arbitration. Fioretto looked for an arbitrator best equipped to hear the case, and found Jacalyn J. Zimmerman, who previously served as the gen-
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from the 16th District, and Thomas Grimm, from the 22nd District, represented officers from the north and south sides. Francis and Robert Galassi from Mounted Unit would provide expert testimony about impact on special units. Casiano would bring his 13 years of firearms train- ing expertise to round out a lineup of heavy hitters the likes of which the Cubs wish they had.
With the help of Lodge President Dean Angelo, Sr., Fio- retto was able to bring to the hearing precedent from cas- es FOP Lodges in other cities had won, including a big one from Oklahoma City. Lodge 7 was ready to make its case... and make a winning case.
“One of the main goals was to show the arbitrator how this new order would be a burden on officers on the street for safety reasons and for comfort,” Harvey explained. “We were able to support our case with information only an officer who has been there would know.”
Harvey’s role also included evaluating testimony from
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ APRIL 2016 28