Aurora police labor complaint dismissed

The Illinois Labor Relations Board this week dismissed an unfair labor practices complaint Aurora’s police union filed against the city, the board’s executive director said Friday.

The Association of Professional Police Officers, which represents roughly 250 patrol officers, filed the complaint in January after contract negotiations stalled and talks over concessions the city sought to balance its budget went sour.

The union can choose to appeal the dismissal within 10 days of its release.

Union President Dave Schmidt said the group’s leadership plans to meet May 31 to decide whether to appeal.

The complaint claims the city failed to bargain in good faith by offering union members a 1 percent raise during negotiations, then later asking for a 10 percent reduction in combined salary and benefits to help fill a projected $18 million gap in the 2011 budget.

It further states the city restrained the union’s collective bargaining rights and retaliated with layoffs after the union staged an informational picket.

Eight patrol officers received layoff notices in late November and were out of a job beginning Jan. 1. When the complaint was filed later in January, the city responded with a statement saying it was “baseless” and made “false allegations.”

Friday, the city responded to the complaint’s dismissal, saying the decision proves the city acted within its rights and gave proper notice when laying off the eight officers.

“The city would have preferred agreed concessions with (the union) in lieu of layoffs as achieved with other city unions. The city waited as long as it could, but in the end, had no alternative to layoffs,” the statement reads. “The Illinois Labor Relations Board’s decision to dismiss the unfair labor practice validates the city’s good faith union bargaining efforts.”