Emanuel 'Will Represent The Taxpayers' In Labor Talks With Police Union

By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 8, 2013 3:20PM

Photo credit: © City of Chicago/Brooke Collins

Mayor Rahm Emanuel wouldn’t comment on the demands for a new contract listed by the Fraternal Order of Police Thursday. Emanuel did tell the Sun-Times he wouldn’t negotiate a new contract for police officers in public, which indicates he may have learned at least one thing from last year’s teachers’ strike.

But then he proceeded to do just that by framing any contract talks as “represent(ing) the taxpayers and what they can afford” and (more than) hinting that any new deal will have an eye toward the city’s upcoming pension crisis.

“If we don’t make changes, Chicago’s pension payments will equal all of what we’re paying for public safety . . . in a few years. If we don’t make changes, our public pension payments will equal every basic neighborhood service: garbage collection, recycling, graffiti removal, tree-trimming, pothole filling. . . . The list goes on and on,” Emanuel said. “There are tough choices … They’re very politically difficult. But they are less politically difficult than choosing between either making a public pension payment or public safety payments.”

The Fraternal Order of Police’s demands include a 12 percent pay raise over two years and a laughable $3,000 stipend for police officers to live within the city limits.FOP president Mike Shields said the pay raise stipulation is realistic as they were only awarded a 10 percent raise over five years in their previous deal.

“When it comes time to finding $55 million for a park [named] for Maggie Daley, $20 million for canoe kiosks along the river or $90 million bike lanes, they find that money. No problem. But, when it comes time to talk about raises for overworked Chicago police officers, the city will always cry poor.”