FOP RALLY Police union protests Pittsburgh's cutbacks

The FOP wants a state court to throw out the financial recovery plan.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Officers working in the birthplace of the Fraternal Order of Police planned to take to the streets today to protest Pittsburgh's financial recovery plan.
Police union leaders from around the country -- including the 700 delegates at a statewide police union convention that started Sunday in Pittsburgh -- will participate in the march and rally in the city's downtown, said Mike Havens, the president of Pittsburgh's Fraternal Order of Police, Fort Pitt Lodge No. 1.
Legal battle
Last month, Pittsburgh firefighters joined police officers in a legal battle over the city's financial recovery plan under Act 47, the state's distressed municipalities law.
The lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court allege that spending cuts violate the unions' bargaining rights and will endanger city residents. The unions also worry about losing gains made through binding arbitration, a state-mandated process that prevents police officers and firefighters from striking.
The city's recovery plan, approved in June by Mayor Tom Murphy and city council, calls for $33 million in spending cuts along with $41 million in tax increases to bridge a projected $72 million budget shortfall in 2005.
The city plans to cut 168 of 816 firefighter positions and close seven of its 35 fire stations. Although other city workers won't get raises for two years, firefighters would see their pay cut 17 percent under the plan.
The FOP wants the court to throw out the plan and establish a new recovery team.
"If they end up destroying collective bargaining in Pennsylvania, where it basically started, what kind of message does that send across the country?" Havens said.
Origin of FOP
According to the Fort Pitt Lodge's Web site, two foot patrolmen in Pittsburgh formed the FOP to improve officers' pay and work hours.
Havens hoped as many as 2,000 people would participate in today's protest and said Grand Lodge National president Chuck Canterbury, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., would make an appearance.
Leaders of the state police union said whatever happens in Pittsburgh could affect officers around the state. The union is providing a legal team to represent city officers in the lawsuit.