Fellow Members,

I want to thank all those who attended the meeting last Saturday. It is very important that we voice our concerns to our Teamster representatives and to our fellow Teamster members. As we discussed in the meeting on Saturday our main concern with the new off-duty policy is the insurance requirements. I know there is a great deal of confusion with what these requirements will entail so let me first explain the specifics. The liability insurance is simply a $1,000,000.00 policy per incident, $2,000,000.00 aggregate. This is a common policy that most if not all businesses should have. In addition to this policy there is also the $500,000.00 workers comp coverage. Now this is not for police officers but simply a workers comp policy that all employers with 2 or 3 employees should have as mandated by the state. Again, both of these policies should be very basic and common with all off-duty employers. These requirements are nothing new it is that the city just wants proof from the off-duty employer that they have this coverage. What will be required for the off-duty form is a one page certificate of insurance that states the coverage, similar to the statement you receive from your car insurance. If for some reason the business where you work off duty does not have both of these policies please give me the name of the business and the owner and we can have this addressed immediately. If there happens to be a large amount of off-duty employers that do not have this coverage I am confident that as a union we will have some influence over this policy. Please contact me ASAP if you’re off duty employer does not have this coverage.

I also want everyone to know that you are permitted to renew your contract before May 9, regardless of when it expires. If anyone has a problem with renewing the contract let me know.

Finally, if we see any attempt by the city to take over our off duty or if we begin to lose off-duty employers because of additional restrictions I know I can count on all our members to support the steps we will take to resolve this problem. I will keep you all informed of this action.

Our next meeting will be Wednesday, May 6, 1900 hrs at the Teamster Union Hall on Angus Dr

Thanks for your support.

Rick Armstrong