Suburban dispatchers, management ready for strike
Northwest Suburban Dispatch System dispatchers said Tuesday they'll give management several hours' notice before they strike, and Northwest Suburban Dispatch System leaders say that's all they would need to put their backup plan in effect and keep 911 service going.
After two years of negotiations that have failed to produce a first contract, the Metropolitan Alliance of Police NWCD Chapter 540 says the 67 telecommunicators it represents at the center in Arlington Heights will strike sometime after 5 p.m. Thursday.
Both sides say they will work hard to prevent a strike.
Still, “Yes, I am anticipating a strike,” said Rick Tracy, who is on MAP's executive board. The union has filed an intent to strike after 5 p.m. Thursday, but when the strike would occur, though, has not been decided, he said.
“In the interest of public safety — they are dispatchers after all, and they are concerned — we will give the employer several hours' heads up when we're going to walk out,” he said. “They claim they can replace us. Hopefully they can.”
No dispatcher would leave in the middle of an emergency call, said Tracy.
The center board and management worked all last weekend on a response to the union's latest proposal received late Thursday, and they hoped to get their response sent Tuesday night, said Ken Fritz, chairman of the center's board.
While Tracy said negotiations have gotten nowhere in the last year, Fritz said 70 percent of issues have been tentatively agreed to.
Tracy said the union is asking for less than the 2 percent annual pay increase that he said is common for public employees, and is struggling to keep benefits the employees already have.
Tracy said the union has proposed binding arbitration, although it prefers reaching a contract through negotiations. Fritz said the board believes a settlement can be negotiated and does not want binding arbitration.
“We have had 27 bargaining sessions over that two-year period,” said Fritz. “With a first-time contract you are starting at square one and there's a lot of ground to cover.”
Fritz said if there is a strike he hopes the number of people staffing the center will soon be comparable to a normal shift. The plan is that the approximately 10 system management personnel will staff the center, but they will pull in some workers from other dispatch centers and those working in public safety who have dispatch experience, said Fritz.
Training those would-be temporary workers to familiarize them with the system's equipment is under way, and NWCD Executive Director Cindy Barbera-Brelle is working on scheduling fill-in people, said Fritz.
If there is a strike, the center will temporarily drop some services that it provides now, said Fritz. These include keeping people on the line and giving them advice on what to do before the ambulance arrives. Citizens will be patched through to local fire departments for that assistance, he said.
Only emergency requests from law enforcement departments will be entered into the state communication system, LEADS, during a strike, he said.
Meanwhile, if the union does not give several hours notice, despite its pledge to do so, NWCD has a transition plan for the first couple of hours, said Fritz.
Some calls will be answered by the Cook County dispatch center and others will go directly to local police and fire departments, he said, adding that these departments are getting ready to add emergency calls to the ones they already take.
“It's almost the same system in place as if an emergency like a bad storm shuts down the dispatch center,” said Fritz.
“The board is not focusing on that,” he said. “The operations staff has to do that. Our focus in the last several days has been a response to the union's proposal that moves us toward resolving the issues and preventing a strike.”