PBA vs FOP

Hello,

I have heard some very compelling arguments for unionization.

The question remains,

FOP or PBA, does anyone have any information or empirical data that would show why one would be superior to another?

PBA is actively courting our membership, while the FOP has been largely silent. The FOP seems to have very strong "presence" though.

There has also been a large amount of blue cards that have not reached their final destination.

What is the running total of cards returned?

On a related topic,

Mr. Pendergrass recently emailed about thirty LCSO employees on their work email accounts with a know your rights document. Unfortunately, the names of the Deputies were not BCC'd and now are in circulation. In the future please BCC any PBA emails to LCSO email accounts.

I was a member of the FOP for 17 years and was always very pleased. I was represented by them on 2 different occasions in my career where legal representation would have been very financially damaging had I not had the FOP. Working as a cop with wife, kids, house and car payments doesn't leave much room to hire lawyers.
Any cop today without FOP, PBA, or some type of legal backing is a fool in my opinion. Just talk to the veteran Cape guys about FOP and FMPD about PBA. I think you can make the decision that works best for you. I would certainly wonder about the PBA leadership/Sheriff Scott connection....

I have personally spoken to Mr. Preston, the president of the Florida FOP. He is very interested in representing our agency. I agree with the other poster that the FOP is the better choice from the standpoint of legal representation and bargaining ability. Also, according to the conversation that I have had with Mr. Preston he related the following. PBA has a top down approach to negotiation. In other words, they advise you of the points of negotiation for the contract. The FOP has a bottom up approach. They listen to the rank and file and negotiate the points they are concerned with. Of course if the points are unrealistic or simply not attainable or beyond the scope of negotiation (in other words management legally has rights over the negotiation point) they advise you of the same. Either is a good model. Neither is perfect.

fop +1