Fellow Members,

The January RPPA meeting has been canceled. Our next meeting will be February 3rd, 2010, 1900 hrs at the Teamster Union Hall on Angus Dr. As usual the Teamster Local meeting will be on Saturday January 16, 2010, 10:00 a.m. at the Teamster Union Hall.

As the decade comes to an end and we reach our ten year anniversary mark I would like to detail some of our major accomplishments.

In 2001 we won the FLSA lawsuit, many officers received between $200-$500 in compensation and how the city calculates overtime was changed.

In 2003 after the proposed budget recommended no range adjustment for city employees we were able to lobby city council to maintain our yearly 1.5% raise.

In 2004 we were able to get dues check off passed through the council although there was significant opposition from the city manager’s officer.

In 2006 the first half of our educational incentive was passed. Officers with bachelor degree would receive $700 a year and officers with an associate would receive $350.

In 2008 the second half of our educational incentive was implemented. A bachelor degree earns your $1400 a year and an associate $700.

In 2009 joined with the Firefighters Union we were able to maintain some of our health insurance benefits. Our deductibles remained $250 a year as opposed to the recommended increase of $450 and our co-insurance remained at $1500 as opposed the the recommended increase to $2500.

We had input on several policies and procedures suggested by the Chief. Many times we were able to negotiate a better policy for the rank and file, including fewer restrictions on the initial off-duty proposal. The amount of off-duty hours worked in a 28 day cycle was to 72 hours from 60 hours, permitting officers to work 12 additional hours per month. The mandated pay rate of $35 an hour for off-duty employers was delayed for three years. Over the past ten years and four Chiefs during that time span we had a significant impact on many policies.

We won dozens of appeals of disciplinary action that would have led to the loss of time, rank, and employment for our members.

By joining the Teamsters we secured a seat on the North Carolina Training and Standards Commission. A position we have maintained over the past three years.

Over the last 10 years we were able to get a majority of City Council members elected that support our agenda.

These accomplishments were only possible due to our growing active membership. Our close to 500 members has helped us gain a significant amount of influence with the city council, the Chief of police, and the general public. I want to thank all of our members who helped achieve our goals by attending meetings, offering input, helping getting council members elected, recruiting officers to join the RPPA, getting our message out, and by just being a loyal member through the good and bad. We will not always agree on our strategy as a union but as long as we remain united with one voice we will continue to be successful. Thank you again and please remain active to help grow your union in strength and numbers.

Have a happy New Year.

Rick Armstrong

PARKLAND, Wash. — A gunman burst into a coffeehouse Sunday and opened fire on four police officers as they sat working on their laptops, killing the three men and one woman in what an official described as a targeted ambush.
Pierce County Sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said officers were looking for one male suspect who fled the scene and haven’t ruled out an accomplice, possibly a getaway driver.
It wasn’t clear whether the officers even had time to draw their weapons to return fire, Troyer said.
“This was more of an execution. Walk in with the specific mindset to shoot police officers,” Troyer said.
Troyer said the officers - all from the Lakewood Police Department - were catching up on paperwork at the beginning of their shifts when they were attacked at 8:15 a.m. Sunday.
Troyer said the attack was clearly targeted at the officers, not a robbery gone bad.
“There were marked patrol cars outside and they were all in uniform,” Troyer said.
With no known suspects, there was no indication of any connection with the Halloween night shooting of a Seattle police officer. The suspect in that shooting remains hospitalized.
“We won’t know if it’s a copycat effect or what it was until we get the case solved,” Troyer said. “We don’t even have a suspect ID right now.”
Troyer would not release the names of the victims in Sunday’s shooting, and said the motive for the shooting was unknown.
Two employees and a few other customers were in the shop during the attack. All are being interviewed by the Pierce County Sheriff’s investigators.
“Some are in shock. They are very upset,” Troyer said. “They are the ones who are going to put together for us how this happened.”
The Forza Coffee Shop, part of a popular local chain, is on a side street near McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, about 35 miles south of Seattle. The shop is in a small retail center alongside two restaurants, a cigar store and a nail salon.
Brad Carpenter, founder and owner of Forza Coffee, said his staff was OK and being interviewed by police, and that his main concern was with the families of the police officers.
“I’m a retired police officer, so this really hits close to home for me,” he said.
Streets around the coffee shop were blocked off late Sunday morning, and a police helicopter hovered over a large crowd of investigators. TV video showed police taking possession of a pickup truck parked in a grocery store in Parkland.
“We are looking at some people. We are looking at some cars. We are looking at some residences,” Troyer said.
Troyer urged people to stay away from scenes to avoid interfering and putting themselves at risks
Dave Gabrielson, a clerk at Foot Mart about a block away from the coffee shop, told the newspaper all was quiet when he opened the store at 8 a.m. About 30 minutes later, “All of a sudden a million cops were zooming up and down the road,” Gabrielson said.
He said he saw officers bring a police dog into a nearby apartment complex.
Last month, Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed Halloween night as he was sitting in a cruiser with trainee Britt Sweeney. Sweeney was grazed in the neck.
Authorities say the man charged with that shooting also firebombed four police vehicles in October as part of a “one-man war” against law enforcement. Christopher Monfort, 41, was arrested after being wounded in a firefight with police days after the Seattle shooting. He remains hospitalized in stable condition, the hospital said Sunday.
The officers killed Sunday were a patrol squad made up of three officers and their sergeant. No threats had been made against them or other officers in the region, sheriff’s officials said.
“We lost people we care about. We’re working to find out who did this and deal with him.” Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor told reporters at the scene.
Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire said she was “shocked and horrified” by the killings.
“Our police put their lives on the line every day, and tragedies like this remind us of the risks they continually take to keep our communities safe,” she said in a written statement. “My heart goes out to the family, friends and co-workers of these officers, as well as the entire law enforcement community.”
At Rollies Tavern near the coffee house, the plasma TVs usually tuned to football had Northwest Cable News on. Three bar patrons live next door to the coffee house.
Jerry Arnold, 45, was in bed when he was awakened by sirens. He’s lived there seven years and never seen anything close to Sunday’s scene.
“I hope they get them. I can’t sleep until they do,” he said. “Those guys could be hiding in my backyard.”

Fellow Members,

The article below is pretty accurate concerning collective bargaining. One point I think he down plays is the power unions will have with this collective bargaining bill. Many union leaders in strong states do not realize how little power we have in North Carolina. Now I realize we will not have near the strength they have any law that gives us the right to mediate with our employer is a major step in the right direction. One point he does make that I believe is true is unions competing against one another and spending more time criticizing one another over fighting for police officers. I can assure you I will stay focused on representing our members and I know the Teamsters will do the same. It is extremely important that the rank and file remain united during this transition.

Also, I believe our new evaluation process is being introduced because of this bill. The police department is preparing for collective bargaining and we need to very cautious of how this will be implemented.

There will be a Teamsters Local 391 Meeting this Saturday at 10:00 a.m. at the Teamster Union Hall. Please make every effort to attend.

Thanks for your support.

Rick Armstrong

Tuesday, November 17, 2009
National Collective Bargaining Law Close To Being Passed
H.R. 413 - Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2009 is close to becoming law. The impact of the law is being greatly overstated by those on both sides of the issue. The truth is that the law is rather benign. About the only requirements are that the employer must talk with the elected employee organizations and that there be some kind of dispute resolution mechanism - not binding arbitration.

What we want to avoid is getting the police and fire in those states all gung ho and acting heavy handedly. If we do, there will be a lot of good people that will experience personal upheaval and anguish as the result of demotions and firings. The League of Cities has their membership convinced that this law is a product of Karl Marx and a direct attack on states rights, capitalism and market economies. You are not going to convince them otherwise, at least not for a long time. Hopefully, the various labor organizations that represent public safety employees will not try to one up each other, by claiming that they can “kick butt” better than the other organizations, but I am afraid that is what will occur. If this event follows the historical route, each major organization will put more effort into castigating the other organizations than helping police officers and firefighter. I hope I am wrong.

Once the law is signed by the President, the Federal Labor Relations Authority will have six months to examine each state’s public safety (police, fire and EMS) collective bargaining law to determine if it meets the minimum requirements of the federal law. If it finds a state’s law to be insufficient it will notify that state that it will have the federal law imposed on it. There is an appeal process for the states. After the appeals process is completed, the law will become effective on the later date of two years from passage or the close of the first legislature session for that state.

The purpose of this drill is to encourage states to either enact or amend their law to comply with the federal law. I would think that the states would get together and come up with a minimum standards law and then have the various legislatures enact it. I do not think that any state really wants the federal government running this operation in their state. I would not want that. However, I doubt if it will go that smoothly. Like most things, there will be lawsuits filed to block or at least delay the law from being implemented. Many of the challenges will be constitutional claims based on some kind of states rights. This will take about three to five years to work its way through the courts.

Currently, there are fifteen states that have no collective bargaining laws for police and several others that have substandard laws - nine Southeastern states, five mountain states, and Indiana. A few of these are down right radical in their hatred of collective bargaining, most notably North Carolina and Virginia. I will be surprised if Jackson, Birmingham, Atlanta, Charlotte and Richmond accept this imposition without a big and bitter fight. Casper and Cheyenne will most likely fight until the last man is shot. Be prepared for what are normally good and decent people in these cities behaving like lunatics. They have and will continue to talk themselves into a frenzy. Eventually, these people will reconcile or pass on, but it may be some time before there is peace.

Fellow members,

Yesterday we lost a key ally in our fight for better pay. Rodger Koopman was a strong proponent for police officers. He forced this City manager to conduct a comprehensive pay study comparing RPD to major police departments across the county. I was able to give input as to which cities would be used in the comparison. I believe this was a major step toward making our pay more competitive with other large city police departments. With Koopman no longer on the city council I am not sure what will happen with this pay study. I also want to remind everyone we endorse candidates that support the rights of police officers and the candidates that will fight for better pay and benefits. We only consider those issues and you as a voter can decide which candidate you would like to vote for. Our job is to simply tell you which candidate supports the rank and file police officer. We have made progress with our endorsements and council members supporting our issues. We were able to pass dues check off, get an educational incentive passed, and maintain our health insurance deductibles and co-insurance. I know many members think these our minor issues but these victories have saved officers thousands of dollars each year. Our political endorsements have made these victories possible. We must continue to remain politically active and not let our personal opinions undermine the progress we have made with these endorsements.

We have scheduled a meeting with the Chief for tomorrow. We have a great deal of issues and rumors to bring to his attention. I have heard some concerns about our current schedule. If you are unhappy with the schedule please email me so I can gauge the number of officers that do not like it.

There will be a Teamster meeting on Saturday, October 17, 10:00 a.m. at the Teamster Union Hall. This is Teamster member appreciation day and there will be door prizes(TVs, Bikes, Jackets, Shirts, Hats, etc) and lunch will be served following the meeting. I encourage all of you to attend to get to know your fellow Teamster brothers and sisters.

Our next RPPA meeting is Wednesday, November 4, 7:00 p.m. at the Teamster Union Hall. Our attorney Lee Turner will be present at this meeting to discuss important legal issues.

Thanks for your support.
Rick Armstrong

Fellow members,

Our August meeting has been canceled. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, Sept. 2, 1900 hrs at the Teamster Union Hall. Please read the below article about the federal collective bargaining bill that may pass in the near future.

Rick Armstrong

DURHAM — Mayors of the state’s major cities look to be trying to form a coalition with business leaders to oppose an expected federal move to override North Carolina’s restrictions on bargaining with public-employee unions.

The N.C. Metropolitan Mayors Coalition has organized a seminar on labor issues next week in High Point and invited mayors and city managers from its member cities to attend.

The move follows talks between city and Chamber of Commerce leaders from Durham, Chapel Hill, Raleigh, Fayetteville, Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point.

The Aug. 5 seminar’s “goal is to learn more about [collective bargaining] and think about what we can all do together on the issue,” Metropolitan Mayors Coalition Director Julie White said.

White said her group has not added a position on collective bargaining to its formal advocacy agenda, although its parent organization, the N.C. League of Municipalities, has.

The league wants to maintain the state’s current ban on public-sector collective bargaining.

City leaders are beginning to talk more about the issue because Congress is considering a bill that would force them to negotiate with unions representing police, firefighters and other public-safety employees.

The bill, introduced by U.S. Rep. Dale Kildee, D-Mich., has 128 co-sponsors in the U.S. House. They include four North Carolina congressmen: Democrats Brad Miller, Heath Schuler and Mel Watt, and Republican Walter Jones.

An earlier version of the bill passed the House in 2007 on a bipartisan, 314-97 vote but stalled in the Senate and died when the 2007-08 session of Congress adjourned last year.

As drafted, Kildee’s bill would bar strikes, but holds that employer-employee cooperation in the public-safety arena is in the national interest. It also says that in many agencies, it’s “the union that provides the institutional stability as elected officials and appointees come and go.”

The bill hasn’t moved out of committee in the House so far this year, but it appears to have “a good chance of passage” in 2010 because Republicans from pro-labor districts have gotten behind it, said Rick Kearney, director of N.C. State University’s School of Public and International Affairs.

Kearney added that if Congress wipes out state bans on collective bargaining for public-safety employees, it’s likely that legislatures will come under pressure to allow negotiations with all government employees.

North Carolina and Virginia are the only states that ban public-sector bargaining by statute, though South Carolina and a few others limit the practice in different ways, Kearney said.

Chapel Hill Mayor Kevin Foy, the metropolitan coalition’s chairman, said he and other mayors “are not in favor” of addressing the issue through federal legislation.

Foy said he personally wants the state General Assembly to repeal North Carolina’s bargaining ban, and thinks it likely to fall eventually. But “the federal government isn’t the right place to be setting those rules,” he said.

He also downplayed the short-term prospects of forming a coalition with business leaders on the issue, saying that upcoming meeting is more about swapping information.

“What we’re doing now is trying to see where we have common interests,” Foy said. “As a general rule, I don’t think the chambers would have had an idea that this legislation was even on the table, much less how it might affect the operations of a municipality. What the ultimate conclusion of that is remains to be seen.”

Foy and Kearney agreed that however the legislative debate unfolds, it’d be smart for city leaders to start educating themselves about how collective bargaining works.

“If it happens soon and local governments aren’t ready, the unions are going to walk all over them,” Kearney said. “It won’t be just the local union and its president [on labor's side of any talks], it’ll be the national firefighters’ association with grizzled veterans coming down from D.C. They will be experts in collective bargaining

Fellow members,

As many of you are now aware it turns out that our premiums will be increased by 7%. There will not be an increase in deductibles or our co-insurance. When the Mayor made his proposal of the budget we were all under the impression that none of our health insurance rates would be increased. It has now come to our attention that his proposal only included the deductibles and co-insurance. This is still an improvement of the manager’s proposed budget but a serious concern for how it was presented at the city council budget meeting. Unfortunately we have few options at this point due to the fact the budget has been voted on and approved.

Rick Armstrong

Fellow members,

The budget was passed by city council last night by a vote of 7-1. Over the past few days we have been discussing with council members a compromise for the range adjustment not being in the budget. We came to a conclusion that what would be best for our members but also that the city could afford would be not to raise our health insurance costs. The budget that the city manager proposed included an increase in our health insurance premiums by 7%, our deductibles by 60%, and our co-insurance 50%. Under the approved budget our health insurance costs will not be raised. This is another victory for our union. Many of our members will save $250-$1,000 a year depending on your health insurance plan. We would have preferred a range adjustment increase but due to the number of city employees this cost would have been too high. Many council members were reluctant to dip further into the reserves. Also, the savings on our health benefits are not taxed so what we save we keep and don’t lose any of it to taxes.

I want to thank every member who attended the council meeting on June 2. Your presence made the difference and we should all be proud of what we can accomplish when we all stand together. I always like to show the benefits of being a member of our union. Including the educational incentive we will receive this year and the savings on our health insurance benefits most of our members will receive between $1000 and $2500 additional this year for an investment of $240 in union dues. I don’t know of any better investment of your money.

Thanks for all your support,

Rick Armstrong

Fellow members,

I want to thank all of our members who attended the city council meeting last night. We had an excellent turnout. I would say there were over 200 cops present. I know the turnout certainly got the attention of the city council. Eric, Keith, and I will continue to meet with council members and attend the budget hearings. Every Monday at 4:00 there will be a budget meeting for the month of June. The budget must be passed by June 30. I can’t say for sure if we will get our range adjustment but I know if we didn’t have the turnout we did last night there is no way we would get the raise.

Thanks again for all your support.

Rick Armstrong

Fellow members,

I just left the meeting for the city manager’s proposed budget. It is worse than I predicted. We are losing more than are range adjustment of 1.5%. The following is an overview of the reduction of our pay and benefits:

Elimination of our 1.5% range adjustment

A reduction of 1% in our merit pay

An increase of 7% of our heath insurance premiums

An increase of $150 of our health insurance deductibles

An increase of $500 of co-insurance maximums

With these figures most of us will see a pay check with less money next year while the city manager will see an increase of 5% in his salary or an additional $10,000. I am truly outraged that while the backbone of our city, the employees will see a reduction in pay next year our city manager is receiving a substantial raise. We must show city council that one man does not make this city great it is the police officers, the firefighters, and all city employees who work hard everyday in providing exceptional services to the citizens. Our vice president, Eric DeSimone, the president of the Firefighters union, Keith Wilder and I plan to meet with the mayor and every city council member in the coming weeks to voice our opposition to the loss of our range adjustment. WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT ON JUNE 2, 1900 hrs at CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS.

Thank you,

Rick Armstrong

Fellow members,

First, I want to thank Lisa Mendez and Brent Snowden for attending the union meeting on Saturday. These are two members that truly recognize the importance of action, not just talk. It is unfortunate that as the city manager receives a 5% pay raise and we face the possibility of no range adjustment that we lack the support from the rest of our membership. I am a little disappointed at the low turnout for this meeting. It is extremely important that we prepare for this battle. The budget will be released tomorrow and the public budget hearing is Tuesday June 2 and we need support from our members.

There are council members quoting that they want Mr. Allen’s salary comparable to other city managers in cities our size. When are we going to receive a salary comparable to cities our size? We should all be outraged that while Mr. Allen has saved the city millions of dollars by restructuring our pay scale (we receive much smaller raises) he reaps the benefits in raises that total 57% in the past 8 years.

If our yearly range adjustment is not in the proposed budget I plan to speak along with the president of the Firefighters union, Keith Wilder to support our range adjustment for all city employees. The meeting is at 7 p.m. on June 2. Please email me and let me know if you can make this meeting. Our solidarity is our power and without your support I can assure you we will not receive our raise this year. That equals on average about $700 per officer per year for the rest of your career. This equates to about two hours of your time for $700. Please reply as soon as possible. We need to determine how many bodies we can get in council chambers. There is no doubt in my mind that if we can get 500 cops and firefights into council chambers we will not only get our raise we will get the respect we deserve from city council.

Rick Armstrong