[Vision2020] Rally, Parade Monday for Police Union

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (April 29, 2006) Moscow-Pullman daily News with a special
thanks to 

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Rally, parade Monday for police union; City councilmen hope local supporters
will send a powerful message 

By Omie Drawhorn Daily News staff writer 
Published: 04-29-2006 

People who want to support Moscow police officers in their efforts to
unionize can join in a rally and parade Monday. 

Police have kept quiet in the wake of a city Administrative Committee
decision not to forward their union request on to the City Council. But
Councilmen Aaron Ament and Bob Stout are organizing the event to show
support for the formation of a police union. 

The committee voted against bringing the Moscow police union debate to City
Council in a 2-1 vote Monday, deciding to address police compensation and
benefits with the union idea off the table. 

Committee members Linda Pall and John Weber voted against forwarding the
request to council, while Ament voted for it. 

Ament said people can expect bullhorns, signs and maybe a few "rousing labor
speeches" Monday. The rally will begin at 2:30 p.m. at 302 North Jackson
Street in the carpenter's guild building. The parade will stretch 12 to 14
blocks past Rosauer's, down Main Street, turning left at Sixth Street and
ending on Third Street at City Hall. 

"I want to focus the attention of the city on the issue and schedule
(another) vote at an Administrative Committee meeting," Ament said. 

He said he's hoping to gather the support of community members at the rally.


The police officers have made numerous appeals to the city over the years to
allow them to unionize. High turnover, the pay for performance plan,
insurance benefits and communication with the city are the concerns driving
the move to unionize. The Moscow Police Department administration would not
be part of the union. 

"We appreciate the support from the council members and citizens who show
up," said Cpl. Art Lindquist of the Moscow Police Department. "We appreciate
it because they are doing it for the benefit of the police department." 

Ament said it's possible the other three council members who don't serve on
the committee might vote in support of the union if the question were
allowed to come before the full council. 

Pall said the committee hasn't pushed the union issue by the wayside. 

"We are still working on issues brought up (at the meeting) and we are still
looking at exactly where we are and how far we have come," she said. The
Administrative Committee plans to examine issues related to police benefits
and compensation at its May 22 meeting. 

"This is a union issue, not a compensation or benefits issue," Ament said.
He said the police officers are requesting professional representation for
negotiations and he is concerned that future councils won't be as open to
working with the police officers' concerns as the current one. 

But Weber said he is "fairly certain the city can address the issue in such
a way that everyone gets what they want." 

He said he thinks it's great that Ament and Stout are conducting a rally in
support of the police union, but it doesn't change his approach to the
issue: working with the police officers themselves on benefits and
compensation. 

IF YOU GO . . .

WHAT: Police Union Rally 

WHEN: 2:30 p.m. Monday 

WHERE: Carpenter's Union Building, 302 N. Jackson St.

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Seeya there, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"If not us, who?
If not now, when?"

- Unknown