Chicago City Wire

An attorney for the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 has petitioned the Chicago Police Board, a civilian disciplinary board, to surrender 20 cases for referral to an independent arbitrator, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The Tribune story quotes Police Board President Ghian Foreman as saying that using an independent arbitrator instead of his board for disciplinary cases “will be a serious setback for police accountability in Chicago.”

“This decision will drive these cases behind closed doors at a time when it has never been more important to increase the public’s confidence in the process for handling allegations of police misconduct and to build greater trust between the police and the communities they serve,” Foreman added.

What the story fails to report is that the FOP has long contended that the two-tiered disciplinary process in Chicago – the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) that investigates police actions, and the Police Board that acts on COPA’s recommendations -- is weighted against the police. In 2019, in fact, the FOP sued COPA saying it lacks the tools and authority to investigate police involved shootings.

Former FOP official, Martin Preib, the architect of getting arbitration for the rank-and-file members, characterized the Tribune story as another example of the media carrying the water for the anti-police movement in the city.

“The media and police board have both sold out to the anti-police movement,” Preib told Chicago City Wire. “The possibility that cops could get a fair deal with arbitration threatens to expose both of them. Arbitration is a basic right enjoyed by many unions. It’s embarrassing to watch them try to undermine it.”

Earlier this month, independent arbitrator Edwin Benn approved the right to arbitration as part of police contract negotiations with the city that have been languishing since 2017, when the last contract ended. The change holds for police grievances covering disciplinary suspensions that are longer than a year, and for firings.

In his granting the change in disciplinary action, Benn, citing Section 8 of the Illinois Public Labor Relations Act, said that the city “will need to show cause why the Lodge’s offer should not be adopted.”

Section 8, covering grievance procedures, states: “The collective bargaining agreement negotiated between the employer and the exclusive representative shall contain a grievance resolution procedure which shall apply to all employees in the bargaining unit and shall provide for final and binding arbitration of disputes concerning the administration or interpretation of the agreement unless mutually agreed otherwise.”

The Tribune story maintains that the arbitrator’s award isn’t binding since contract negotiations continue, and any agreement will require approval of the City Council.

But Preib said it will be extremely difficult for the City Council to strike arbitration from the contract.

“Arbitration is a basic right for members of a union,” Preib said. “If City Council takes this right away from the police, will they take it away from other unions as well, including the teachers’ unions?”