My police departments very first union was established in the late 60s and early 70s. I was elected as it treasurer and stayed in that position for three years. Soon after, The Fraternal Order of Police was voted in by the sworn and civillian personell.
During the reign of The Independent Police Union (IPU), we were very successful in lobbying for pay raises, better healthcare for its members and protective vests for all sworn officers. We fought for many improvements in our department, like, bucket seats for the police cars, changing the color of our police uniforms from a white shirt to a dark blue, and although we did not have collective bargaining, the Metro Government essentially gave us what we had asked for. Most of our requests were for officer safety and their health.
In the early 70s, our department had gone without a pay raise for about 5 years. We knew money was tight in government, due to Nashville being the very first city in the nation, to be voted in as a metropolitan area(city). So, the IPU waited for the next fiscal years budget to be presented to the Metropolitan Council, on July lst. Again, no pay raise was presented to the council and the IPU members saw red. This was the closest our police department has ever been, to calling a complete strike in Nashville. Our police chief and key council members came to our strike call meeting that night and assured us that our much deserved pay raise would be granted in the next fiscal budget year. The IPU members voted to hold off on our strike vote for 10 more months.
The Metro Council and our police chief held to their promise. At the July council meeting, history was made in Nashville, Tennessee. Never before had any department been give three pay raises, within a ten minute period. Two raises were voted in before midnight and one other pay raise was granted at 1201 am. We held to our end of the agreement and the Metro Council held to its agreement, concerning our pay raises.
The Independent Police Union was a good driving force for a new Metropolitan Government and Police Departmet. I guess you could say we “grew up together”.
The Fraternal Order of Police was then voted in, by the IPU membership, to take over representation of the good people of my police department. The FOP today, continues as the nation’s No. 1 union to represent sworn and civillian employees throughout America.