PAX Centurion - May / June 2013

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • May/June 2013 • Page 7 Secretary’s Spread: Patrick M. Rose, BPPA Secretary Enough is enough The attitude and arrogance displayed by our supposed professional adversaries sickened me and I wish I could share it with every Patrolman within the City of Boston so that you could see firsthand how you are thought of! I have, in the past, attempted to mitigate the hard feelings that can develop between employer and employee, after all we are only human and no one likes to be talked ‘down to’ or disrespected on either side. However, in the heat of battle things are often said or done that one later regrets and or wishes were never said or done. Contract negotiations T alk about being naïve. I, along with most of the waking world, believed that the Boston Police Patrolmen would be treated with some small measure of respect after the hor- rific events of April 15, 2013 and its’ aftermath. I, along with many of my fellow uniformed Officers were naïve enough to believe that continued great work, continued great efforts and the continuing great results of our dedicated efforts, which were heralded by society in general, would somehow be rewarded with some measure of respect by our employer in the form of a long awaited, fair and equitable bargained contract. Apparently no one sent the memo to the labor relations division of the Police department or the City of Boston. It definitely wasn’t sent to the city’s subcontracted hired Labor gun. Conversely, they apparently got the memo that said the opposite! One can only surmise at my shock and dismay that we are still in protracted, arbitrated negotiations in June of 2013 with no end in sight. One could only imagine at my surprise that, within sight of another fiscal year and the end of our third year without a contract, that we are still being screwed around by our employer and their hired guns! One can only imagine, as we enter our fifth ( 5 th ) year of PAY CUTSAND REDUCTION IN TAKE HOME PAY , ( yes our pay will be reduced once again effective July 2013 based on insurance payment increases ), my surprise to realize that we will probably be going through August attempting to negotiate with a group dedicated to foot dragging and delay tactics. Even as theArbitrator opens up dates and your Bargaining Committee offers to work nights, weekends and hol- idays towards a negotiated settlement, the City team and their hired guns continue to find reasons to cancel previously agreed upon dates, reasons not to agree on dates and reasons to delay a final outcome to what has become the longest arbitrated case, (based on the amount of arbitrated meetings, fifteen already, to be exact), in the history of the Police Department. The average amount of arbitrated meetings within the City between management and the labor unions is averaged at 5 to 7 days, we have already met and gave testimony in front of the arbitrator fifteen times, (more once this is published). Based on what I personally observed for two days that I was present to testify for, it isn’t going anywhere fast. Even as theArbitrator attempts to offer dates to the city, they (the city team led by their hired gun), have come up with more excuses to delay than a kid that didn’t do his homework! In addition the tone and tenor of the proceedings have denigrated to an all time low. The two days of testimony that I had the misfortune to witness, showed me an attitude of disrespect; impertinence and outright contempt for our uniformed Officers, displayed by the city’s hired guns! The attitude and arrogance displayed by our supposed profes- sional adversaries sickened me and I wish I could share it with every Patrolman within the City of Boston so that you could see firsthand how you are thought of! I have, in the past, attempted to mitigate the hard feelings that can develop between employer and employee, after all we are only human and no one likes to be talked ‘down to’ or disrespected on either side. However, in the heat of battle things are often said or done that one later regrets and or wishes were never said or done. Even with that in mind, I can’t understand why the City of Boston would knowingly hire individuals to represent them that appear to revel in the chance to disrespect Police Officers or any Public Safety Personnel for that matter, it simply astounds me. Why they would subcontract individuals that are unable to mask their total disdain for pub- lic employees and allow these same people to represent them in negotiations, especially when paying them the equivalent of an allowance given to a Saudi Prince, while simultaneously encouraging the stripping of the workers of a fair wage and decent working conditions, well it’s simply no longer defensible. Mr. Mayor, I along with the majority of public safety personnel have always believed you to be an honorable man. I can’t believe that the manager of this city, the ‘Urban Mechanic’, could be aware of what’s really going on behind those closed hearing room doors. I can’t believe that the man that has led this city for the past two decades would allow such behavior from subcontracted em- ployees and not be personally offended. It’s not unique to the Police, believe me these same people treat all public safety employees the same way. There’s an old saying that goes; “all is fair in love and war”, that may be true, but basic respect for each other is even practiced in time of war. Every day; Police Officers, EMT’s, Paramedics and Fire Fighters protect the populace of this city and supply lifesaving services to our fellow citizens, without as much as a simple thank you, in most cases. We do it because we are the ones that care, we are the ones willing to give, and we are the lonely 1% that run into the danger not away from it. No one is asking for parades, no one is asking to be heralded as some kind of savior, no one is asking for anything more than being treated with some semblance of respect and dignity due our positions and be paid commensurate with the dangers See Secretary on page 24