Naperville cops file unfair labor practice complaint

Naperville's police union is taking its escalating battle with the city to the streets and the Illinois Labor Relations Board.

Union leaders said Tuesday they have filed an unfair labor practice complaint against the city with the state board.

They also said they will conduct an informational picket before the next city council meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 16, as part of a campaign to alert residents to possible safety concerns and build community support for their cause.

City officials said they were not surprised by the union's decision to pursue the complaint but were disappointed to learn about it from a reporter.

“You would think they would have provided a copy to us or release some form of notification,” City Manager Doug Krieger said.

The latest exchange in the increasingly bitter dispute came a day after the city laid off six police officers and eliminated a vacant position in the department.

It also came less than a week after Krieger unveiled a new three-year contract with the police union and then immediately announced the city couldn't afford it without layoffs.

Members of the Fraternal Order of Police Local 42, which represents 137 Naperville officers, said the subject of layoffs never came up during negotiations and the final contract agreement was based entirely on the city's own offer.

Tamara Cummings, general counsel for the union, said the unfair labor practice charge filed Tuesday claims the city bargained in bad faith when it waited until after the contract was signed to announce it planned to use layoffs to pay for the negotiated raises.

She said the union also believes the layoffs were in retaliation for officers negotiating a fair contract.

Krieger sees the union's complaint differently.

“I believe they had to file it (the complaint) simply to save face,” he said. “We have always bargained in good faith and are not concerned about that claim.”

He denied the union's assertion that layoffs were not discussed at the bargaining table.

“I only attended one of the bargaining sessions and layoffs came up in that meeting,” Krieger said. “The union specifically requested a no layoff provision and that request was denied. Now, if management denies your request for no layoffs, it would seem that you would think that layoffs wouldn't come as a surprise.”

Cummings said the state labor board is “notoriously backed up” and the case likely will take months to be heard.

In the meantime, union officials said they plan to conduct a campaign to build support for their cause that will include reaching out to resident and business groups.

The most visible of those early efforts will be the informational picket outside city hall.

Participants will gather between 5 and 6:15 p.m. at the Riverwalk Grand Pavilion and then walk to city hall.

FOP President Vince Clark said the officers' top goal is to inform residents that after one round of layoffs in January and another this week, the department is “below (staffing) levels that are even imaginable. Safety is a matter for concern at this point.”

He said police will ask residents to contact their elected officials and Krieger to rally support for police.

The contract that sparked all the debate gives officers raises of 3.3 percent for 2009-10 and 3 percent in both 2010-11 and 2011-12.

It also calls for a 50 percent increase in police personnel health insurance premium contributions, to 15 percent from 10 percent of the total premium cost.

The pact is retroactive to May 1, 2009, and runs through April 30, 2012.

It was reached after nearly 18 months of talks and on the eve of a binding arbitration hearing. The arbitrator signed off on it as a “consent award.”

Krieger said the union was well aware of the city's financial woes, which include a projected $5 million budget deficit in the coming fiscal year.

He indicated Monday additional layoffs could be coming in the city and on Tuesday said the lingering dispute with the police union isn't helping matters.

“I find it interesting and a little disappointing that as much as we've tried to explain the tough fiscal position we're in, as opposed to bringing up solutions to help solve that problem they bring (labor board complaints) instead,” he said. “I'm disappointed to have to spend time responding to it when I'd rather spend time solving the budget situation.”

Krieger said the city has been reducing its staffing levels for two years “and the city council has been involved in both of those discussions and these as well. Would I have done these on my own? Not without getting the council's backing.”