RETIREMENT DEADLINE APPROACHING  09/25/09

Any retiree who is planning to retire prior to March 31, 2010 and take advantage of the Premium Free Healthcare Agreement must submit a retirement PAR Form by October 1, 2009.

The Agreement states that there must be 160 applicants in order for this first group of potential retirees to receive this benefit. Only 107 applicants have submitted their PAR Forms as of close of business on Monday, September 28, 2009. There is only one week remaining. Submit your PAR Form today.

DEFACEMENT COURT CASE UPDATE  09/25/09

The three adults that were charged with defacing the Memorial appeared in Court Branch 42 at 0900 hrs on 23 September 2009 . All three defendants waived their right to their preliminary hearings. More than 150 officers attended this court appearance.

The next scheduled court date is 14 October 2009 for arraignment before the Chief Judge at 26th and California. Members are again encouraged to attend.

OBAMA DETAIL CANCELLED  0922/09

Members should be aware that the Obama Detail is cancelled effective October 1, 2009. Officers assigned on September 30, 2009 at 2200 hrs should not report for duty. See AMFN #093873 for complete details.

UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM  09/22/09

The University of Chicago will hold an information session regarding its annual scholarship program for the children (or the legally adopted children) of currently active Chicago Police Officers. This session will be held on Thursday, October 8, 2009 from 1900-2030 hrs at the Social Sciences Building located at 1126 E. 59th Street in Room 122.

GRIEVANCE UPDATE  09/18/09

The grievance committee met on Thursday, September 17, 2009 and reviewed the grievances that pertained to the Obama Overtime Initiative, the Taste of Chicago Overtime Initiative, and Operation Safe City.

The Committee voted to withdraw the grievances for the Obama Overtime Initiative and the Taste of Chicago Overtime Initiative based on an arbitration decision rendered on the 2008 Chicago Marathon grievance where this grievance was denied in its entirety. Although the Lodge strenuously disagrees with the arbitrator’s ruling, the decision is binding. The arbitrator ruled that the determination to exclude officers above the D-1 pay rate from overtime was made on an economic basis and as such was not arbitrary, capricious, or unreasonable. He went on to say that the Department’s 2008 Marathon overtime initiative was a proper use of the Department’s Management Rights.

The Committee voted to proceed to arbitration on the Operation Safe City grievances as the Committee deemed that these grievances did not fall under the same criteria that the arbitrator used to deny the Marathon grievance.