Minneapolis police union calls for return to negotiating table, addressing of 'false narratives'
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The Minneapolis Police Federation released a statement Wednesday night mandating the Minneapolis Police Department come back to the negotiating table and address what it calls “false narratives” about the union’s role in impeding change.
The statement came hours after Police Chief Medaria Arrandondo announced the department would stop negotiating with the union.
Minneapolis police chief announces withdrawal from contract negotiations with city’s police union
Minneapolis Police Chief Medaria Arradondo announced Wednesday he is withdrawing from contract negotiations on the unfinished contract with the police union and restarting an effort to identify troubled police officers through early warning signs.
In a long statement posted to the Facebook page of the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association on behalf of the union, the Federation said state statutes mandate that the city “meet and negotiate in good faith” with a labor union representing its employees.
“The Federation sincerely hopes that by their announcement today, the Police Chief and Mayor were not stating an intent to violate state law, the city charter and the city’s process agreement with the Federation,” the statement read.
The Federation then sought to correct what it called a “popular and false narrative.” It said the “Federation has always welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with the City’s Police Administration and Labor Relations staff to set clear expectations, train employees as to those expectations, and improve accountability for both officers and supervisors who fail to conduct themselves accordingly.”
The statement went on to pin failure to change policies on management and not the union.
“Despite the Federation’s efforts to assist in bringing about meaningful changes, it recognizes that rarely have these efforts been successful. However, this is not because of the Federation or the terms of the labor agreement, but rather because management has failed to implement the changes the parties agreed to make,” the statement continued.
The Federation called on the Police Department and Mayor Jacob Frey to do the following as part of its statement:
· Return to mediation and negotiate in good faith;
· Stop repeating the false narrative that the Federation or the labor agreement is an impediment to change;
· Acknowledge that, upon the conclusion of an investigation of a misconduct allegation, the disciplinary process and the due process right to appeal to a neutral arbitrator are no different for a Minneapolis police officer than for any other city employee or any of the other 400,000 public employees in the state of Minnesota; and
· Resist the urge to pander to those demanding the irrational and instead give the community and its police officers the leadership they deserve by being an agent of change and facilitating the serious and important conversations which must occur among all stakeholders, so that the MPD can once again be an organization in which people are proud to serve and from which the community is proud to be served.