Your Voice - March 2017

As many of you are aware, your LAPPL Directors are assigned to the various geographic and traffic areas throughout the Department to liaise with you and to help with any issues that arise affecting our members and requiring LAPPL attention. There are currently nine Directors who serve more than 9,000 sworn employees at the rank of lieutenant and below. In order to communicate more accurately, provide up-to-date information and receive feedback from League members, your Directors rely on delegates. League delegates represent every area and division in the Department where League members work. The best way to know what is going on at the League is to become involved as a delegate. The League needs members to fill several vacant 2017 delegate spots. For current vacancies, please visit: http://lapd.com/members/delegate_information/.

Basic delegate responsibilities:

• Attend monthly delegate meetings and report back to members via roll calls, deployment meetings, supervisor meetings, etc.
• Update and maintain League bulletin boards with the bulletin board information handed out at Delegate meetings:
  • Be familiar with required material for bulletin boards.
  • Understand MOU Section 2.2 relating to League bulletin boards.
  • Advise the divisional Director as to who will maintain the board and key.
• Read the Delegate Meeting Minutes on lapd.com in the Delegate Information section when they are posted, especially if you missed the meeting, as you are responsible for knowing the information.
• Make sure the members of your division are aware of which Director is assigned to your division, and how to contact that person if necessary.
• Be familiar with the MOU, and have a copy available.
• Volunteer for Delegate committees and participate in those meetings.
• Recruit new Delegates when a vacancy in your division occurs.
• Be registered to receive Membership Alerts, NewsWatch, E-newsletters, etc.
• Assist with Membership Outreach days:
  • Put up fliers, make sure there are sufficient tables and chairs on the day of the event, assist with setup and miscellaneous tasks.

Notifications:

• Order retirement plaques for retirees at your division.
• Notify Delegate and Membership Chair of any officer who is hospitalized on/off duty or in need of assistance.
• Notify the Director assigned to your division about labor/MOU violations—don’t assume the League is aware of issues at divisions.
• If possible, notify Directors about officer-involved shootings and categorical uses of force in your division (it allows the League to respond more quickly than waiting for the RACR notification).
• Notify the Director assigned to your division about maximum deployment days, training days and/or supervisor meetings so they can attempt to attend.
• If you hear rumor or conjecture, contact a Director to verify or dispel the information.

League information and communications:

• Encourage members to register at lapd.com to receive and read Membership Alerts, NewsWatch, the E-newsletter, blog posts, etc.
• Encourage members to read the Thin Blue Line.
• A delegate from each division should submit the divisional reporter article for the TBL; if not a delegate, recruit a member who is willing to report on behalf of the division.
• Create a list of members’ personal email addresses to instantly communicate with members at the division—do not use the Department LAN system to originate any emails regarding union business.
• Advise members of elections and encourage participation/voting in Director and delegate elections, bylaw changes, political endorsements, completion of surveys and other League communications that are soliciting membership responses.
• Understand what the most commonly used union terminology is and what it means
• Understand and explain the Political Action Committee process to members and why the League is involved in politics.
• Be familiar with assistance programs and, if a member is in need, encourage the use of the Managed Health Network and Employee Assistance program.
• Be familiar with League-offered benefits and encourage members to sign up for the Legal Plan, Delta Dental, medical and long-term disability benefits during the appropriate open enrollments, and communicate to members that they have only 30 days after a life event (e.g., marriage, childbirth) to add wife/husband/domestic partner, child to their medical, dental and life insurance policies in order to avoid waiting for the next open enrollment.
• Have a basic understanding of the discipline process and attend Employee Representative training given by the League.
• Encourage Directors to attend roll calls at your division, especially when there are issues at the division.
• Update and maintain a Delegate Handbook and have it accessible for members

All of these duties may appear daunting, but the simplest way of looking at it is that the delegates are the liaison between the LAPPL and your workplace. If you have any interest at all, I strongly encourage you to please contact me, the Board’s Delegate and Membership Chair, at [email protected] or (818) 416-6495.