PAX Centurion - September / October 2015

www.bppa.org PAX CENTURION • September/October 2015 • Page 3 A Message from the President: Patrick M. Rose, BPPA President 50 years ago, eleven brave men made history and founded the BPPA F ifty (50) years ago, eleven (11) very brave men sat in a cramped kitchen at 193 & 1/2 Fairmont Avenue and decided to tempt fate by placing their signatures on a document declar- ing the founding of ‘The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association’ , Our founders were actually willing to put their careers and weekly paychecks on the line for the good of all. I would be remiss if I didn’t put in print the names of my predecessors over the last fifty years: Dick MacEachern (our Founder), Dan Sweeney, Chet Broder- ick, Bobby Guiney, Don Murray, Dick Bradley and Tom Nee. On a personal note, I don’t believe that I have ever received a more prestigious honor than being the current elected individual to lead and represent the brave men and women of this outstanding organiza- tion. The aforementioned individuals stood tall with thousands of other Boston Police Officers over the last fifty years fighting the good fight; defending the rights of their brothers and sisters, often at serious personal, professional and financial risk to themselves and for that matter; their families. When younger officers look back over the his- tory of this organization, its roots and struggles, never forget the personal sacrifice of those that went before. On September 11 th , we celebrated the Union’s 50 th Anniversary by gathering at the Venezia restaurant in Dorchester. We were joined by ( and properly recognized ) founding member Paul Whelan and his wife Izzy, (sister of our founder Dick MacEachern). We were also joined by ( and properly recog- nized ) past Presidents Chet Broderick, Bob Guiney, Dick Bradley & Tom Nee along with past Vice Presidents Dave Mackin & Ron Mac- Gillivray. Joining us in celebration were 400 hundred members, families and friends of the association and we were honored to have the Governor and the Mayor attend and spend the entire evening with us, ( another first for the BPPA ). To say the evening was a success would be an understatement. We celebrated the Union’s history and recognized many heroic officers and EMS per- sonnel. We also celebrated the careers of many members who have been lucky enough to enter the retirement phase of their lives. These celebrations are a very important part of this organization and I en- courage you all to attend such social events in the future. We are who we are because we believe in and practice the union motto: ‘Unity & Strength.’ In Unity there is indeed Strength, let us never forget that and always remember to be there for your brothers & sisters. Insofar as business is concerned, you are all well aware of the recent purchase of the new Union Hall facility at 295 Freeport Street. We conducted our first ( of many ) ‘Open Meetings’ and open houses onWednesday, October 7 th . We hosted over 250 members during the afternoon with a cookout provided for our members by our members and were pleased that approximately seventy members were able to attend theAnnual Open Meeting conducted at 2:00 pm. As previous- ly promised we will be conducting ‘Open Meetings’more often with the next one scheduled for January 6, 2016 at 5:00 pm, ( in order to accommodate different shifts ). We are well underway with the minor renovations and updates to the office area of the new hall so that we can move the day-to-day Union operation in as soon as possible. We have been extremely fortunate in receiving many unsolicited offers for our present property at 9-11 Shetland Street and believe there will be no problem in disposing of that property in the future, benefit- ting the organization much more than originally anticipated! The general state of the Union is good. We are financially solvent and as a matter of fact have increased the gross worth of the Union by one and a quarter million within the last nine months. We have recently elected our second new member to the bargaining committee and have started our plans to move forward towards the new round of bargaining sessions officially starting January 2016. The leadership, along with the bargaining committee, have already started visiting units and divisions solicit- ing information from members in an attempt to properly focus the next round of bargaining. This will not be done in a vacuum, but will be a transparent process reported back to you through your representatives. We have and will champion the fight to properly safeguard our mem- bers through our continued battle to properly arm and equip you with the best equipment and training possible. We recognize the need for new and improved equipment along with the need to be able to field and utilize the same to protect not only the citizenry but ourselves! We take our charge to safe- guard our members very seriously. We will continue to force this city and department to abide by our collective bargaining agreement and identify and fight to make corrections to those areas that we identify shortcomings in. We welcome any and all members to send their recommendations to us and furthermore to continue to be the eyes and ears needed to identify those shortcom- ings, wants and needs. It has only been nine months since the new leadership team was selected by you, the membership. In that short time, many changes have taken place and many will follow. We are here to speak for you, stand for you and represent you. We realize that we will not win every battle, ( but that will not deter us ), we also realize that we will not please every member every time. But I continue in my prom- ise to you, that it is all about you; the member and always will be. Together we will continue to fight to improve our wages, to improve on the amount of hours we have to work and definitely improve our conditions of employment. We will continue to be your voice and their conscience when and if necessary. As always, please be safe out there, back each other up and remember your number one priority is to go home safe and sound to your family! God Bless.