By Jennifer Gomori, POJ Editor

Since the 1970s, the Royal Oak Police Officers Association (ROPOA) has represented itself, with the help of a hired labor attorney. But changing times led them to seek formal representation with the Police Officers Labor Council (POLC).

“Over the years, there’s been the ask and the push by the membership to maybe join a bigger union. We’ve always had our own labor attorney that we paid independently who handled discipline matters, contract negotiations, etc.,” said Joe Ivy, ROPOA President. “Our longtime attorney retired and he represented us for 30-plus years. Then, in the last couple of contract negotiations, we searched for labor attorneys and we just found that it was a very exhausting and extensive search to find someone decent. There aren’t many labor attorneys out there anymore that are independent like that.”

Around the same time, many Local Board members were retiring from the department or promoting, and newer, younger ROPOA members were elected to the Local Union Board. 

“We just weren’t overly satisfied with our newer attorney. We felt like we had to do a lot of work on our own. It became increasingly difficult,” Ivy said. “Once we got five guys on the Board and settled in, we started including our membership more in the say.”

The 74-member association, which includes Patrol Officers, Dispatch and Parking Enforcement Officers, met with a few unions and voted to join the POLC in late 2023. However, they have been easing into the transition from independent to unionized one step at a time. 

“We felt like we could secure the ROPOA better by joining the POLC. We wanted to sit down with the POLC to make sure we were all on the same page moving forward after the vote,” Ivy said. “We became official in January (2024). We were working on a contract extension in the middle of all of this. We brought (POLC Director) Jim Stachowski in to let the City know … Stach was going to be our (Labor) Rep.”

Royal Oak Patrol had been operating under a shift change, from 8 hours to 12 hours, on a trial basis when they joined POLC. That trial was coming to an end, an issue the POLC assisted with in the group’s one-year contract extension, which expires June 30, 2025.

“This past spring (2024) is when the trial was supposed to end. POLC came in the middle of it and negotiated, making the 12-hour shifts permanent,” Ivy said. “It’s a unique situation because (the POLC) was already representing the Command Union. Command was doing the same (shift change), so the POLC had already been read in on it. There are a lot of times where the POLC comes in handy. That was one of the first things they helped with, keeping the 12-hour shifts.”

Since the POLC not only represented Royal Oak Command, but also Royal Oak Detectives, Patrol members felt comfortable with the Union and realized the bargaining power of uniting through the same representation. 

“It was a majority sentiment, if all three police unions are unified, it might make our position stronger when we go into contract negotiations,” Ivy said. “We just wanted to make sure we still kept our business completely separate from Command, because of potential discipline matters. We don’t want information shared and prefer separate (POLC Labor) Reps.”

They found the cost factor of joining the POLC palatable because the Union dues are more affordable than the competition. The final piece that made POLC the best fit was the connection the Union’s Representatives and Labor Attorneys already have with Royal Oak’s Attorney. 

“We have a new Police Chief in the last few years and we have a very good rapport with him,” however, Ivy said of their former independent status, “Rather than deal with our Board members directly, the City Attorney for Royal Oak prefers to deal with the guys at the POLC, who have a really good working relationship with him.” 

While Ivy admits it’s not easy letting go of the reins a little and sharing the responsibilities with the POLC, Royal Oak Patrol has experienced positive changes since becoming members.

“They’ve been great! Stach is responsive whether it’s a phone call, text or email,” he said. “They brought us in for board training. They’ve been very patient with us … allowing us to transition at our own pace. They’ve provided an answer whenever we needed one. So far, everyone is pretty happy with our overall choice.”