Union Is Impatient With Contract Talks

The union representing Northwest Central Dispatch System (Ill.) dispatchers feels that its first-ever contract negotiations have bogged down in trivia, and one union official has said a strike is possible if talks don’t move forward next month. The center has about 70 dispatchers who handle incidents and radio traffic for 11 jurisdictions in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. The consolidated center was formed in 1971, but dispatchers voted to join the Metropolitan Alliance of Police (MAP) only last February to represent them. Contract talks began last September, but MAP secretary Richard Tracy says that since then, discussions have focused on non-economic issues, including “hours talking about a filing cabinet.” Comm center officials say it takes time to negotiate a first union contract with employees, and that progress is being made during twice-monthly meetings. Illinois public safety dispatchers are not among those who are prohibited from striking by labor laws. Read more about the talks here.