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Zeal of Approval
Visiting roll calls to present accurate contract info to members generates overwhelming vote to ratify
n BY MITCHELL KRUGEL
Through a two-week sprint of roll call visits in late July and early August, Lodge 7 President John Catanzara and Second Vice President Dan Gorman explained the virtues of a phase one col- lective bargaining agreement between the union and the City. With the Aug. 13 vote by members for ratification looming, con- sensus did not seem to be leaning toward approval.
During a visit, one member who had been on for less than five years claimed to be speaking for the entire roll call when telling Gorman, “Before you came and explained to us, we were all a hard ‘no.’” They had talked about it at roll call beforehand and agreed that it was not a good deal.
Gorman inquired about why they were taking such a hard line. But he knew the answer be- fore even asking the question.
Members had been lighting
up social media with misinfor-
mation, claiming that FOP could
get more than the nearly 22 per-
cent salary increase spread over
the four retro years and 3 1/2
years to come. And because of the viral nature of social media, negative opinions spread through the membership faster than an order to cancel days off.
“So it was a battle going out,” Gorman described. “Then we did a roll call presentation, and the officers admitted that while the explanations changed their mind, they realized they were subject to bad information through social media or through word of mouth.”
Lodge 7 sent out 10,040 ballots to members to vote on rati- fying phase one of the contract. Of those, 5,043 were returned. Slightly more than half. Of the returned ballots, 4,002 were votes to approve. That’s a 79.3 percent approval rating.
After the final negotiating session with the City came to the terms that Lodge 7 presented to members, City attorneys ques- tioned whether the union could garner approval. Gorman re- calls that Catanzara not only assured the City that they would get the votes, but that it would be overwhelming approval.
“We made a friendly little gentlemen’s bet about the percent- age of ratification,” Gorman shared. “John thought 70 percent of the members would vote to ratify. I don’t think he was surprised at the 79 percent.”
Despite such confidence, the Lodge 7 leadership initiated the plan to visit as many of the 180 or so roll calls held every day as possible during a three-week period leading up to the vote. The visits stopped following the death of Officer Ella French, but the team of Catanzara, Gorman and First Vice President Mike Mette had made enough visits to educate the hard-liners.
A substantive info session took place at Homan Square, where the Lodge leadership held two town hall meetings. Like all the presentations, the Lodge spent 45 minutes presenting the 10 terms that needed to be ratified in phase one of the contract.
Raises, retro pay and other compensation took up much of the presentation, during which members were able to learn that
26 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ SEPTEMBER 2021
going to arbitration would not necessarily result in more mon- ey. Despite what was being circulated on social media.
“It’s possible to get more, but there’s a risk that the arbitrator isn’t going to award what we’re asking,” Gorman noted.
Those attending a presentation heard the actual information about the COVID bailout money the City is getting. Social me- dia chat claimed that money was to be used for raises.
“It’s not earmarked for raises. It’s not earmarked for retro. Some of it is earmarked for overtime,” Gorman continued. “But just a portion of it. So when it comes to arbitration, the mayor is going to say, ‘I don’t have the ability to pay.’ Ability to pay is one of the factors the arbitrator considers. So there’s a risk that
the arbitrator doesn’t even award what we agreed to.”
As Catanzara and Gorman split up to cover more roll calls, they began to see some positive reception to the actual data. Gor- man observed how some of the most critical members he knows were receptive of the terms.
“But there were others who
said, ‘This sucks,’” he added.
At the end of the run, Lodge 7 realized that the phase one deal
is not monumental. It’s only a portion of the contract. Accord- ing to Lodge 7 attorney Joel D’Alba, the next phases include 37 more proposals, some of which relate to incentivizing members with bumps in pay for obtaining certifications that make them better officers.
That could have a huge impact on making the city safer. And also increase the Department’s wherewithal to retain officers, which will make the job safer. Chances of the City agreeing to those ideas seem to be favorable considering that CFD has a similar structure in its collective bargaining agreement.
Gorman also submitted that the next phase requires Lodge 7 to be creative in other additions to compensation. There is a “me too” issue for the City. Whatever the Lodge is able to negoti- ate would also need to be paid to the sergeants, lieutenants and captains if it’s more than they are making. So the Lodge must be wary of mortgaging future compensation if money gets sucked up in the me too.
But there is some cause for celebration, beginning with the percentage of members who voted – and voted for approval. There is also something to be said for this current FOP admin- istration being able to procure a welcomed increase and signifi- cant retro pay in a little more than one year of negotiating, when the previous Lodge administration could not really even move the ball in three years of trying.
“Over the weeks of presenting it to members, we were con- fident that it was a fair deal,” Gorman emphasized. “It was fair enough to send it off to the members for a vote and let them decide.”
As the roll call information sessions showed, the numbers didn’t lie. And the number that mattered most, apparently, was the 79 percent of members who voted to ratify.
“Lodge 7 sent out 10,040 ballots to members to vote on ratifying phase one of the contract. Of those, 5,043
were returned. Of the returned bal- lots, 4,002 were votes to approve. That’s a 79.3 percent approval rating.
“