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| October 31, 2003
I am writing to inform you that we were successful in our efforts to persuade the Department to rescind the order blocking out the period, Monday, August 23, 2004 through Sunday, September 5, 2004 for vacation selection. As you know, in anticipation of the Republican National Convention scheduled to be held in New York City next year, the Department issued a Finest message dated August 13, 2003 prohibiting members from selecting or utilizing annual accrued vacation or individual vacation days during the event. The issuance of the order created widespread resentment and anger among the membership. Police officers rightfully were angered by the order. In our view, it represented an unlawful encroachment on our vacation rights and further exacerbated the dismally low morale in the Department. Immediately following the issuance of the order, I voiced my concerns to the Police Commissioner and shared with him the uproar that it had created within the ranks. Although not initially persuaded, Commissioner Kelly kept the door open for future discussions. In addition to our negotiating strategy, we solicited the support of the other unions to mount a united legal challenge against the Department’s initiative. While continuing to negotiate with the Department, we had our attorneys preparing legal papers in the event that our efforts at the table were unsuccessful. Lastly, I organized a meeting with the Police Commissioner with the presidents of the four other police unions (the DEA, SBA, LBA and CEA) to discuss one final time our objections to the Department’s plan. On October 28, 2003 we were informed that the Police Commissioner had reconsidered the Department’s position and rescinded the order restricting vacation selections. We are very pleased at the outcome and appreciate your support over the past couple of months regarding this matter. As always, we will continue to update you of any further developments.
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