Hank Hernandez
September, 2010
Our Challenges Ahead
Well, here we are, entering the month of September already. Isn’t it amazing how time seems to just fly by? As we enter the last few months of 2010, we at the League are gearing up for the serious challenges ahead, particularly the race for the next governor of California and our negotiations with the City for a new contract for all of our Los Angeles police officers in 2011.
Our political team is very hard at work to do everything possible to ensure that our endorsed candidate wins this very important election for governor. Our candidate will be chosen based not on our individual political philosophies, but instead on the conclusion that the interests of our public safety groups — protecting and enhancing our members’ wages, hours, benefits and other conditions of employment — will be better served if our candidate wins.
As we start gearing up for our next contact negotiations, one of our primary challenges has been to obtain a true understanding of the legitimate needs and interests of our new generation of younger officers who now comprise the majority of our bargaining unit, which represents all ranks of lieutenant and below. During former-Chief Bratton’s tenure, the LAPD hired 6,600 officers from this new generation, and the generation gap can be disconcerting to both experienced officers and management — some of whom think that the younger officers give the impression that they expect to ascend the LAPD’s rank structure relatively quickly and won’t have to struggle to get ahead in their careers. Also, because the younger generation is accustomed to positive feedback and being asked for their input in problem solving, some supervisors feel they don’t take criticism well. Our challenge will be to negotiate a new contract for all officers that is fair and effective, while keeping the different generations happy and those of us at the League sane.
There is no doubt that negotiating a new contract with the City in 2011 will be very challenging and difficult, but we are fast becoming well prepared and acknowledge that this new generation of officers is a highly motivated, creative and fast-thinking group of employees. We are learning fast that the key to better representing them is to understand that many of them have been raised to expect a workplace that is worker focused, transparent and collaborative. Though it’s safe to assume that most of our members would prefer more money and benefits rather than less, many of our younger officers prioritize their interests differently. We have learned that they value autonomy and flexibility in the workplace more than their predecessors. While inwardly respectful of seniority and experience, our younger officers may not defer immediately to authority and frequently respond more favorably to a less-formal workplace.
Accordingly, we have learned that our young membership is more likely to respond favorably to decisions, even negative ones, if they’ve been consulted as part of a transparent process. Raised to believe that their views matter, they respond negatively to decisions made without broad consultation. Thus, when we begin negotiating a new contract on their behalf next year, our League negotiating team will remain focused on continuing to be open and clear in our communications with the membership.
To bolster the legitimacy of our collective bargaining decisions and convey the respect that our younger officers require, we will attempt to describe and explain — when legally possible — the reasoning behind our bargaining decisions. We will also continue to stress the value of working together with City officials and LAPD management to reach mutually acceptable solutions to the tough problems facing our membership, the community and our City. By continuing to take time to learn and understand the interests of our younger officers, increasing transparency and educating them in our bargaining process, we will hopefully succeed in ratifying a satisfactory new contract before June 30, 2011.
Be safe out there.
