Page 18 - June2021

Overworked. Stressed. Underappreciated. Scru- tinized. Danger around every corner. Despite the challenges, officers report to work, don their uni- forms and protect the citizens of Chicago. Their reprieve: regularly scheduled days off to de- compress and get some much-needed rest.
The Department assigns RDOs to each and every officer. Contractually, once set, the Department cannot change them without
repercussions. Apparently, the City no longer cares about its obligations under the contract.
Almost one year ago, in response to protests in Chicago over the death of George Floyd, the Police Department can- celed police officers’ days off and required them to work 12- hour days for as long as 16 days without a day off. It was not lost on the men and women in blue that they had already been working full time for months in the midst of the COVID-19 pan- demic, which infected hundreds of officers (and killed many). The Lodge immediately raised concerns that additional stress created by daily mandatory overtime without regular days off creates a health and safety concern for the officers and the public. The Department knew officers were placed at risk but mandated an extraordinary amount of overtime nonetheless.
In an interview, then-newly appointed Superintendent Brown commented, “It’s not lost on me that our folks are hu-
man. Working them 12-hour days for extended periods, fatigue sets in. You get this risk factor that they’ve been on the front line too long...” How quickly one forgets. Despite the super- intendent’s recognition of the stress that mandatory overtime
and limited days off puts on officers, the Department contin- ues to require officers to do so. Even today.
On or about May 14, 2021, the City issued its most recent order, involving the Memorial Day Deployment Plan. The Department canceled one RDO for the peri- od of May 21 through May 27; all RDOs for the period of
May 28 through May 31; and one RDO for the period of June 1 through June 6. The Lodge immediately filed a class action grievance challenging the City’s decision. An arbitration
hearing is scheduled in July.
The City is keenly aware that summer holidays fall at the
same time each year (i.e., Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day). Yet the City cancelled RDOs for police officers a week before the scheduled holiday, when most police officers already had made commitments for their RDOs, which the City approves every 28 days. This practice must stop.
By cancelling RDOs without a written determination by the superintendent and the mayor that a serious emergency con- dition exists, and by cancelling RDOs inside the 28-day period, the City violates the CBA by depriving police officers of their collectively bargained days off. Equally important, the City is
Work, work, work
PAT FIORETTO
18 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ JUNE 2021