Unions battle for cops

A change in Metro Police representation wouldn't come without a price, according to information being distributed by the Fraternal Order of Police.

The FOP is being challenged for representation of the city's 1,250 officers by the Teamsters Local Union 480 but a monthly dues comparison shows captains and high-ranking lieutenants would be paying more than double the $32.78 fixed FOP rate per month.

Teamster dues are calculated on a sliding scale based on the employee's hourly rate of pay, essentially 2.25 times the hourly wage. While that number is only $5.58 more per month for a starting officer, a captain at the Step 10 level would pay $88.29 per month, an increase of $55.51.

The difference for one year of new representation for Metro's highest-ranking officers is $666. It would be just under $67 more per year for an officer at the entry level.

The FOP states that over 75 percent of its dues stay at the local level and alleges that the Teamsters higher dues "obviously afford the organization's president an above-average salary and a lavish new headquarters in Washington, D.C."

"Our union dues fee is two and a half times the hourly rate per month. If you make $10 an hour then your dues are $25 a month. It's a little more [than the FOP] but you get a whole lot more for it," Teamsters Local Union 480 President and Business Manager Billy Cullen said in an earlier interview.

Cullen said July 14 that he had collected about 400 cards from officers indicating they would switch to the Teamsters if put up for a vote. The Teamsters would need 50 percent plus one to take over for the FOP.

Another point of contention is the legal aid plan offered by both organizations; the FOP wants to put the plans side-by-side for a comparison.

The Teamsters sent out information regarding its TeamLegal plan this week, which is a nationwide program providing legal assistance for civil and criminal duty-related incidents and preparation for Grand Jury hearings.

"We have the legal defense fund, where if an officer has problems they have a legal defense fund where we would have an attorney there for them. It wouldn't be something that would be voted on by anybody, or a decision made by anybody else, they just automatically get it," Cullen said.

TeamLegal allows officers to choose an attorney from a network of attorneys and provides 100 percent coverage regardless of the final cost of representation when a network attorney is used.

TeamLegal covers defense of criminal charges, representation in internal affairs investigations and other services.

The Teamsters flyer encourages officers to have their attorneys call the TeamLegal office because the group is interested in adding attorneys to the plan from the Nashville area.

The FOP also provides legal aid to Metro officers during all administrative complaints and hearings, and boasts lobbying for a 27 percent three-year pay increase in 2001, which placed Metro officers above the 100th percentile in relation to peer cities, according to the flyer.