Friday, January 6, 2017

FOP - GOIN' SOUTH?


FOP members in Chicago are facing fraudulent accusations all over the city. IPRA, COPA, prosecutors, and IAD are attacking them for the most frivolous reasons. They are being stripped. Their insurance just went up. Their union sold out their pension security in the last contract. And law firms throughout the city are looking for ways to profit from making allegations against them.

In response to the dire situation facing these FOP members, what is the current FOP administration under Dean Angelo doing to battle for its members?

They’re planning a trip to Florida, that’s what.

That’s right. Angelo and his guys are heading to Florida around January 12.

Florida? What could be there? Is it the beaches? Disney World? Riding with the dolphins?

Nope.

What lies in Florida are Angelo’s slim hopes of reelection.

Earlier this week, Angelo’s board of directors approved a new policy that will allow retirees to re-join the union, even if they haven’t been members or paid dues in decades.

Isn’t that fantastic? All these retirees have to do is pay one year’s dues and they’re back in.

But wait a minute, a member might ask, a member who has been paying all their dues for all those years. Shouldn’t these members pay up for the interim?

Forget about it.

Lodge 7 set retiree dues at $40 for each year. The State Lodge gets $25 of that and the National Lodge gets $10.50. So, our Lodge only gets $4.50 per member for the entire year.

In any case, one wonders what possible purpose could signing up all these lapsed members serve to help the current members of the FOP?

What is so important that Angelo should fly down to Florida and hold a meeting with retired members at their condominium compound down south?

Well, a cynical FOP member might say it was nothing more than a plot to secure more voters from the ranks of the retirees in the upcoming election.

Cynical, indeed.

One might think that Angelo—facing an election with little or nothing to show members during his tenure as FOP president—hatched this transparent plot as a means to get more retirees on the voting rolls. After all, Angelo clearly believes his support is far stronger among that demographic than the working members.

Some members might think that such a policy violates the constitution, that the constitution says members must be in good standing. But don’t bet on Angelo’s lapdog board to ask any meaningful questions or put such a crucial new policy under any microscope.

Hell, they might even get invited on the trip to the Sunshine State. See some old friends. Take a swim. Enjoy fresh seafood.

So while Angelo and his guys are shaking hands down in Florida and making pitchers of margaritas, trying to salvage some votes from the wreckage of their failed administration, FOP members will be working in the arctic cold, wondering how they will pay for their increased insurance costs, when the next crazy CR number is coming down, what the status of the lawsuit against them is, and whether the Department of Justice is taking aim at them.

But they shouldn’t worry. All phone calls to the FOP will be forwarded to Angelo and his guys down south. Their questions can still be fielded, even above the din of the margarita mixer.