Where is all the money going?

Good morning Brothers and Sisters, I would like to take a moment to address this question. First, to the individual who blindly sent this question via our website, without an email address or a name so we could send a reply, my name is Paul Lunkwitz. I am the President and one of the original founding members of Lodge 21. I come from a place where a mentor, Smittie, and a few brothers of mine including Ashcraft, represented officers independently. We did this for over a decade without the thought of payment or an organization to support us. We then built Lodge 21 in 2019. We didn’t wait for someone else to do it for us, WE built it. When there wasn’t two nickels to rub together, we forged a path and grew this union into what it is today. In fact, for the first 4 years, not one of us was paid a red cent for any of our efforts. That was back when we were managing less than 300 members. Those efforts produced a 34% pay raise and over 40% in total compensation increases, not to mention legal defense with attorneys to protect and restore jobs for officers who were unjustly disciplined. Then came the second round of negotiations where we, through our attorney and arbitration, won a 16% arbitration award. Attorneys and arbitrations are expensive. Those expenses as well as current team member salaries, are paid by the dues our members pay. None of this is a secret. All amounts have been proposed and voted on by members. We have meetings every month. We proudly manage a union of roughly 1400 members now. Through the years we have evolved and grown substantially. We are almost 5 times the size we were back in 2022 when we took over collective bargaining. If you think that any of this is easy or you would do it effectively for free, I invite you to show up to the meetings and roll up your sleeves.

Now, where does all the money go? Attorney, arbitrations, legal defense, court proceedings, office, salaries, business expenses, negotiations, and charity work. As you are aware the arbitration award was not funded by the politicians in the legislature. We have evolved every step of the way by investing the union money into resources that benefit the members. The next evolution is to gain influence in the legislature to ensure that our lobbying efforts are even more successful than they have been to this point. Endorsements including campaign donations are currently being discussed and voted on. However, let us be very clear, MEMBERS DECIDE WHERE THE MONEY IS SPENT. Almost every single decision involving finances and every major financial decision is put forward for a vote at the monthly meetings. The meeting minutes are sent out every month, informing our members what occurred at the meeting. The Executive Board and the Committees make recommendations, that are formed into motions, that are then voted on by, drumroll, you guessed it the MEMBERS at the meetings. Each and every member is given the opportunity to show up, participate, and vote on what the Union does with the money. That was the long answer. The short answer is the members decide where all of the money goes. Thank you to each every member who supports us and a huge thank you to each of you that give your input to help us serve the members’ needs. We appreciate all that you do to keep our brothers and sisters safe, as well as our communities. Be safe and take care of each other!