Police Union Calls Latest Offer By City 'Insulting'

By Chuck Sudo in News on Nov 15, 2013 5:40PM

The head of Chicago’s police officers union is not pleased with the latest contract offer by the Emanuel administration. Mike Shields, president of The Fraternal Order of Police, told the Sun-Times the initial offer by the city was “insulting to the men and women of the Chicago Police Department.”

The latest offer from the city in its contentious bargaining with the FOP over a new contract includes a five percent pay raise over three years; a requirement for officers to double their health care contributions; new retirees to pay 4 percent of annuities for coverage now provided for free; no retroactive pay raise and a demand by Emanuel that rank-and-file officers join a wellness program to bring down obscene health care costs the union has so far resisted.

The FOP had been seeking a 12 percent pay raise over two years to make up for losses they suffered in the last contract negotiations. An arbitrator awarded the union a 10 percent raise over five years during their last contract which was the smallest pay increase in three decades.

Shields told the Sun-Times, “Our members provide outstanding service to Chicago and they deserve an appropriate wage schedule and benefits. We expect the city to start bargaining in good faith.” Shields asked in previous bargaining sessions for “minimum staffing levels” established by Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy that would be reported to the union on a quarterly basis, a 50 percent reduction in merit-based promotions and changing the language of those promotions so they lose their "political" connotations, and a $3,000 stipend paid out to police for living within the city limits.

Shields was instrumental in torpedoing a February deal Emanuel struck with the Chicago Police Sergeants Association that included a 2 percent annual pay raise, boosting the retirement age for sergeants to 53, increasing their pension contributions to 1 percent by 2015 and hiking health care contributions while cutting cost of living adjustments every other year and asking the union to join Emanuel in calling for a change to the pension funding plan for the police union in Springfield.

Although it was long assumed Emanuel would take his frustrations out on Shields at the bargaining table, a source close to the mayor denied that is what’s currently happening. The source told the Sun-Times the deal is “not a bad package.”

As for the rank and file reaction, we turn to cop blogger Second City Cop who has no love lost for either Emanuel or Shields.

You're "stunned?" (Shields) should be run out of town on a rail. In fact, every single Board member of the FOP should lose their jobs over this for starters. Every. Single. One.

And fuck you Rahm for pissing all over our service, our sacrifice, and our families. There's a special place in hell for people like you who steal their way to prosperity behind the scenes while the rest of us are just trying to get by.

Here's a hint FOP - stop negotiating right now. Throw the whole thing to an arbitrator. Rahm obviously isn't negotiating in good faith, so stop the charade. Maybe we'll at least get the 10% we got last time.