Page 5 - November 2015

Clarifying Future Retirements
At the October General Meeting, one particular area that was discussed dealt with the eventual elimination of what is commonly known as the “55 and out, free healthcare” option for those who have a minimum of 20 years of service and who have reached the age of 55 prior to June 1, 2017. After June 1, 2017, the “55 and out, free healthcare” option will no longer be offered.
Throughout the contract ratification process,weconsistentlyreinforced health- care was changing. Upon listening to the questions from the floor at the October meeting, we were made aware that some confusion still remains. Therefore, we thought it best to clarify exactly what hap- pens (healthcare-wise) as of June 1, 2017. Simply put, those who are planning to retire with the “55 and out, free healthcare” need to apply for retirement before the filing deadline of Oct. 1, 2016. The following lan- guage is from page 122 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and deals with the forthcoming changes pertaining to “55 and out:”
Effective for retirements occurring after June 1, 2017, Officers retiring on or after age fifty-five (55) and before age sixty (60) and who elect to participate in this benefit shall contribute two percent (2%) of their annuity then being received pursuant to the provisions of the Policemen’s Annuity and Benefit Fund Act of the Illinois Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/5-101 et seq.). Such Officers shall continue to contribute this percentage contribution for as long as they receive the health care benefit set forth in Section 25.2 of the Agreement.
Another question that was asked and answered several times during the October meeting was: “Doesn’t the free healthcare benefit carry over beyond June of 2017 in the same manner as other benefits of the Contract do?”
The simple answer is, “no.” Although benefits and protections of our Contract remain in place until the next Agreement is negotiated and either ratified or arbitrated, the “55 and out, free healthcare” option does not.
Before the ratification vote went out to the membership, the Lodge was clear on how the end of this particular insurance benefit came about. Remember that Lodge 7 was the last bargaining unit, (beside the Chicago Teacher’s Union), to negotiate a Contract. The Sergeants, Lieutenants, Cap- tains and Fire all finished negotiating their respective benefits before us. Therein was our problem: they had all given up or lost the “55 and out” benefit, while Lodge 7 was in the eighth inning of negotiating our healthcare package. Needless to say, we
were in a difficult position. Eventually, we were able to extend this benefit. Even though the other unions could no longer take advantage of the “55 and out” option, the members of Lodge 7 can do so until June 1, 2017.
Family Support Needed
We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Joe Heinrich, a retired Geneva Police Officer and brother of murder victim Jo Ellen Pueschel and Brother-in-law to Dean, who was also murdered during a home invasion, rape and attempted murder of the then 11-year-old son Rick by the Mahaffey brothers in August 1983. If Mahaffey sounds familiar, it should. These two, along with the Wilson brothers, have been linked by the hip to Northwestern University, Medill Innocence Project, the Center for Wrongful Convictions, former Commander Jon Burge, a fired professor and several more individuals, law firms, convicts commuted sentences, fabricated testimony by academics” and cash payouts.
The surviving family still struggles with its loss. If that alone is not something terrible to carry throughout your remaining years, now they are reliving the events and dealing with more. The newly formed Torture
Inquiry and Relief Commission was recently put in place in Illinois and tasked to review claims of mistreatment at the hands of law enforcement.
The following was taken from the Face- book page, titled “JUSTICE for Dean, JoEllen & Rick:” (We strongly suggest that you friend or at least like this page and familiarize yourself with the horrors that took place in August 1983.)
Presently, the Jerry Mahaffey case is sched- uled to be heard again on Nov. 18 at 3 p.m. at the Thompson Center in Room 9-040. Everyone who is planning on attending will need photo identification. In April of 2015, the City of Chicago approved an ordinance that set aside $5.5 million dollars for the vic- tims of police torture. If the Mahaffey’s apply, and their claim is approved, they stand to walk away with $100,000 each. They will have a memorial built in their honor and receive other benefits. We want as many as possible to attend the hearing to show sup- port for the victims and their families. The commission expects to have enough mem- bers in attendance to render a decision, and we hope that it is the right decision.
Please attend to show support!
Be Safe and God Bless the Police
Mayor Emanuel’s address to 100 law enforcement officers, the U.S. Attorney and others made on Oct. 14:
Maybe it is not P.C., but look, there is no doubt Ferguson, Baltimore, New York and Cleveland, in my view has been what knocked the Genie out of the bottle.
I sat with six offers in the 10th District, North Lawndale in the city of Chicago, Little Vil- lage area of working class Hispanic and Italian Americans. They (officers) are not stopping. They are not letting that smartphone put them in front of Zach’s (U.S. Attorney Zach Far- don) operations. They’re prosecuted before they even have a day in court.
And the next time this incident happens, I ask you as the Attorney General, to speak up. I have stood by my police. I have stood by my superintendent as recently as yesterday. Our officers are not going to ruin their careers.
And unless we deal with backing them up; the gang members know this, the kids run- ning around with guns know they (officers) are not putting their hands on them because they (officers) don’t want to be prosecuted. Whether it be by public opinion or by the court.
And we need a culture in the police department if we have bad actors, we have to pro- fessionalize that. We need to back up our law enforcement community, so they (officers) are going back to proactive community policing, not proactive policing, proactive com- munity policing.
And I ask you, as the highest law enforcement official, there will be a moment in a city and our police officers on the beat need their support. Not for the bad actors, but for those who should not be prosecuted before their chance to say what a situation...I don’t know how I would make a decision in a split moment. I don’t.
But we have allowed our police departments to get fetal and it is having a direct con- sequence. You have too many cities having hit the lowest homicide rates and shooting rates in decades and now it spikes to 40-, 50-, 60-, 70-percent, (and) if you don’t have something (impacting what's) going on that’s national.
We need our police department. We need them trained well. We need a professional culture. But I think they need the attitude that they’re not guilty before they’re innocent.
Audio available at: http://help.washingtonpost.com/link/portal/15067/15080/ArticleFolder/86/PostTV-Closed-Captioning)
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CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ NOVEMBER 2015
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