FOP Journal

I am a little late responding to this Post, but Fred, come on, why all of the anger? You’ve retired, yes? You’ve accepted and are receiving your retirement benefits–those you were told you were going to receive–and are hopefully living a decent life.?.

However, as Kenneth has alluded to, and I must surely agree with, is that you are way off base with your comments and understanding of the CURRENT status of being a POLICE OFFICER!

While it is true we cannot strike, there were provisions put into place ensuring fairness in our ranks because we could not do so. But the haves…and have mores (as Ken alluded to) are attempting to take even those provisions away–and in most places, including my City, have been successful. Both Public Safety Unions lost out when our City repealed the Binding Arbitration Provision.

Thus, our City Manager and Leaders failed to negotiate in good faith and our union wound up with PAY CUTS AND BENEFIT DECREASES ACROSS THE BOARD! Retiree Medical has been taken away, when that had been long fought for, won, and promised. So, you tell me, when did any of us sign up to receive a PAY CUT or lose Retiree Medical? Many officers joined this Department over other Departments because of this benefit!

Officers nationwide (and in my very own Department) are losing their homes because of these attacks on our salary and benefits. New hires? They’re pushing back their retirement allocation percentage AND making them work longer. In fact, if not for the keen eye of our Union Leadership, the contract we were recently imposed to take, actually tried to include current hires in the same tier as new hires, which would have made current hires HAVE TO WORK many more years. What an atrocity!

To top it off, our City has money!!!! An abundance of it. But like most municipalities, they used the current economic downturn to impose these changes. And NOT being able to strike hurts us.

So, you need to realize WHY officers are “bitching” right now, and stop YOUR bitching. Why not continue to support the Profession in your “Retired” status. After all, we are all Blue…and in this together! You’re giving City Leaders just what they want–support for them to continue to take away (and using your words) “the wages, pay, and conditions we signed on to accept.”

What’s the old colloquialism: “If you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all!”

So shut up!