Police union

Last updated

A police union is a trade union for police officers. Police unions formed later than most other occupations, reflecting both a conservative tendency and relatively superior working conditions. [1] The first police unions formed in the United States. Shortly after World War I, the rising cost of living, wage reductions, concerns over amount of rest and growing dissatisfaction among rank and file police officers led to a number of police strikes from 1918–1923 and the formation of police unions globally. [1]

Contents

Australia

The Police Federation of Australia represents police officers in all federal states. Police in Australia have nearly 100% union membership rate and are active in promoting better wages and working conditions, along with broader administration of law enforcement and legal advocacy. However, police are prohibited from striking, so unions and associations have adopted alternative tactics including picketing, flyering and work-to-rule campaigns. [2]

History

The first police union formed in Australia was the Police Association of South Australia in 1911, representing Australia's oldest police force. [1] This was followed by the establishment of the following regional unions:

The Police Federation of Australia and New Zealand was also formed in 1945, which was later renamed in 1998 to the modern day Police Federation of Australia and is affiliated with the ACTU. [2] [1]

Canada

The first Canadian police union was formed on September 5, 1918 in Saint John, New Brunswick. [3] The Canadian Police Association is a Canadian advocacy organization for police officers, with membership of over 60,000 police personnel serving in 160 police services across Canada. [4] There are 27 regional chapters at municipal, provincial, and federal levels. [5] These include the Toronto Police Association and the Vancouver Police Union.

A police strike in Montreal in October 1969 led to the Murray-Hill riot, named for the company that held a monopoly on taxi traffic at the Dorval Airport, now the Montréal–Trudeau International Airport. Amid a background of ethnic tensions, six years of steady bombings of the Front de libération du Québec, rioting by separatists, a coincidental gangland war for control of the city, and a record high murder rate in the city, the Montreal Police Service called for a daylong "study session" at the Paul Sauvé Arena. They were joined by militant cab drivers, who chose the Murray-Hill building as a target. Two persons were killed, several injured, six banks were robbed, vandalism, looting and arson common, and millions of dollars of damage done during the 16-hour walkout. The police did not legally strike as a union. The contractual right to a "study session" as written into the provincial Code of Labor adopted in 1964  [ fr ], allowed for such a work stoppage, which is technically not considered a strike. [6] [7]

Until 2015, federal law prevented the members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police from forming a union. This prohibition was struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada. In 2019 the National Police Federation's members voted 97% in favour of a motion to certify as a union after having filed an application with the Federal Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board (FPSLREB) in April 2018. Another group called the Quebec Mounted Police Members Association had also applied, but only to represent the approximately 900 RCMP members in Quebec; that application was dismissed by the FPSLREB. [8] In 2021 the first collective agreement between the National Police Federation and the federal government was announced on June 28. [9] On July 27 it was officially ratified by a vote of the Federation's members, and was signed on August 6 to enter into force on April 1, 2022. The agreement include a retroactive pay raise going back to 2017. Municipal governments in several provinces that use the RCMP for "contract policing" complained that the new agreement added costs to their budgets without having had a seat at the bargaining table, and launched a campaign calling on the federal government to absorb the higher costs. [10]

Finland

The Finnish Police Union (Finnish: Suomen Poliisijärjestöjen Liitto, SPJL) was established in 1923. According to the union as of 2020, it has 11,000 members. [11]

Germany

There are three police unions in Germany: the Trade Union of the Police (Gewerkschaft der Polizei), one of eight industrial affiliations of the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB); the Deutsche Polizeigewerkschaft, affiliated with the German Civil Service Federation; and the Bund Deutscher Kriminalbeamter, which is exclusively for members of the Kriminalpolizei.[ citation needed ]

Ireland

In the Republic of Ireland, it is illegal for members of the national police force, the Garda Síochána, to form a union, and they are forbidden by law from striking. [12] [13] The Garda Síochana Act 2005 states that it is a serious offence (punishable by a fine of up to €50,000 and/or five years' imprisonment) to "induce […] any member of the Garda Síochána to withhold his or her services or to commit a breach of discipline;" this law has been interpreted as meaning that anyone organising a police strike could be prosecuted. [14] Senior gardaí make their views known through the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) and the rank and file have the Garda Representative Association (GRA). [15] [16] [17]

The closest to a police strike was on 1 May 1998, when in the "Blue Flu" incident, 5,000 gardaí reported sick; public order was maintained by putting the Irish Army on standby and removing gardaí from training and administrative work. [18] In 2017 the two organisations requested formal union status and the right to strike; in 2014 the Council of Europe's committee on social rights ruled that Ireland was in breach of the European social charter in denying gardaí the right to industrial relations mechanisms. [19]

The Airport Police, Dublin Harbour Police and Dún Laoghaire Harbour Police are part of the SIPTU union. [20] [21]

Japan

Trade unions by police officials (including ones working in the Japan Coast Guard and in penal facilities) is banned as per Article 108-2 of the National Public Service Act. [22]

Sweden

The Police Union (Swedish : Polisförbundet) is a trade union in Sweden. It has a membership of 18,500 (including police academy students), and is affiliated with the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees, and EuroCOP. It also maintains contact with the Swedish branch of the International Police Association.

United Kingdom

The National Union of Police and Prison Officers was effectively forced to disband by the Police Act 1919, in response to police strikes in the preceding year, which banned police in Great Britain from being members of trade unions or taking industrial action. (The Constabulary and Police (Ireland) Act 1919 did the same in Ireland.) Since then, labour disputes involving low-ranking police have been mediated by statutory police federations, which are regulated separately from trade unions: the Police Federation of England and Wales, the Scottish Police Federation, and the Police Federation for Northern Ireland.

United States

Police unions in the United States encompass a variety of organizations. About 80% of police unions engaged in employee contract negotiations are independent, operate in a municipality or a region of similar size, and are not affiliated with larger organized labor unions. The national Fraternal Order of Police is the largest single organization, which includes both labor union locals and fraternal lodges. The police union with the largest membership nationally is the International Union of Police Associations, which is chartered with the AFL–CIO since 1979.

For decades after the Boston Police Strike of 1919, police and other public employees were prevented by state laws from organizing. Only in the 1960s did those laws change to allow public-sector employees the right to collective bargaining.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strike action</span> Work stoppage by employees

Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the Industrial Revolution, when mass labor became important in factories and mines. As striking became a more common practice, governments were often pushed to act. When government intervention occurred, it was rarely neutral or amicable. Early strikes were often deemed unlawful conspiracies or anti-competitive cartel action and many were subject to massive legal repression by state police, federal military power, and federal courts. Many Western nations legalized striking under certain conditions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garda Síochána</span> Police and security service of the Republic of Ireland

The Garda Síochána is the national police and security service of Ireland. It is more commonly referred to as the Gardaí or "the Guards". The service is headed by the Garda Commissioner, who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are in Dublin's Phoenix Park.

In labor law, a union shop, also known as a post-entry closed shop, is a form of a union security clause. Under this, the employer agrees to either only hire labor union members or to require that any new employees who are not already union members become members within a certain amount of time. Use of the union shop varies widely from nation to nation, depending on the level of protection given trade unions in general.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canadian Labour Congress</span> National trade union centre

The Canadian Labour Congress, or CLC is a national trade union centre, the central labour body in Canada to which most Canadian labour unions are affiliated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States labor law</span> US laws on fair pay and conditions, unions, democracy, equality and security at work

United States labor law sets the rights and duties for employees, labor unions, and employers in the US. Labor law's basic aim is to remedy the "inequality of bargaining power" between employees and employers, especially employers "organized in the corporate or other forms of ownership association". Over the 20th century, federal law created minimum social and economic rights, and encouraged state laws to go beyond the minimum to favor employees. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 requires a federal minimum wage, currently $7.25 but higher in 29 states and D.C., and discourages working weeks over 40 hours through time-and-a-half overtime pay. There are no federal laws, and few state laws, requiring paid holidays or paid family leave. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 creates a limited right to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in larger employers. There is no automatic right to an occupational pension beyond federally guaranteed Social Security, but the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 requires standards of prudent management and good governance if employers agree to provide pensions, health plans or other benefits. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 requires employees have a safe system of work.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strikebreaker</span> Person who works despite an ongoing strike

A strikebreaker is a person who works despite an ongoing strike. Strikebreakers may be current employees, or new hires, who are hired after or during the strike to keep the organization running. In continuing to work, or taking jobs at a workplace under current strike, strikebreakers are said to "cross picket lines".

The following is a timeline of labor history, organizing & conflicts, from the early 1600s to present.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Garda Emergency Response Unit</span> Unit of the Irish national police

The Emergency Response Unit (ERU) is the police tactical unit of the Garda Síochána, Ireland's national police and security service. The unit was a section of the forces' Special Detective Unit (SDU), under the Crime and Security Branch (CSB) until 2017, when the Special Tactics and Operational Command was created to take over its operational duties alongside Armed Support Units.

The Special Detective Unit (SDU) is the main domestic security agency of the Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland, under the aegis of the Crime & Security Branch (CSB). It is the primary counter-terrorism and counter-espionage investigative unit within the state. The Special Detective Unit superseded the Special Branch, which itself replaced the older Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which was founded in 1921. They work in conjunction with the Defence Forces Directorate of Military Intelligence (J2) – Ireland's national intelligence service – on internal matters. The unit's headquarters are in Harcourt Street, Dublin City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Labor relations</span> Study of work and workers

Labor relations or labor studies is a field of study that can have different meanings depending on the context in which it is used. In an international context, it is a subfield of labor history that studies the human relations with regard to work in its broadest sense and how this connects to questions of social inequality. It explicitly encompasses unregulated, historical, and non-Western forms of labor. Here, labor relations define "for or with whom one works and under what rules. These rules determine the type of work, type and amount of remuneration, working hours, degrees of physical and psychological strain, as well as the degree of freedom and autonomy associated with the work." More specifically in a North American and strictly modern context, labor relations is the study and practice of managing unionized employment situations. In academia, labor relations is frequently a sub-area within industrial relations, though scholars from many disciplines including economics, sociology, history, law, and political science also study labor unions and labor movements. In practice, labor relations is frequently a subarea within human resource management. Courses in labor relations typically cover labor history, labor law, union organizing, bargaining, contract administration, and important contemporary topics.

A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company that regulates the terms and conditions of employees at work. This includes regulating the wages, benefits, and duties of the employees and the duties and responsibilities of the employer or employers and often includes rules for a dispute resolution process.

The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) is an independent statutory body in Ireland charged with overseeing the Garda Síochána, the national police force. It is a three-member body established under the Garda Síochána Act 2005 to deal with complaints from members of the public about the conduct of Gardaí.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Law enforcement in the Republic of Ireland</span>

Law enforcement in the Republic of Ireland is the responsibility of Ireland's civilian police force, the Garda Síochána, commonly referred to as the Gardaí. It is responsible for all civil policing within the country and has been the only territorial police force since their merger with the Dublin Metropolitan Police in 1925.

The National Surveillance Unit (NSU) is the principal clandestine intelligence gathering and surveillance operations unit of the Garda Síochána, the national police force of Ireland. The unit operates under the Crime & Security Branch (CSB), based at Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park, Dublin, and also works from Harcourt Street, Dublin. Members of the unit are specially trained and selected Detective Gardaí who are tasked to remain covert whilst on and off duty, tracking suspected criminals, terrorists and hostile, foreign spies operating in Ireland. The unit's detectives are routinely armed. The National Surveillance Unit is understood to possess a manpower of approximately 100 officers, and is considered to be the most secretive arm of the force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Witness Security Programme (Ireland)</span> Unit of the Irish national police

The Witness Security Programme in Ireland is administered by the Attorney General of Ireland, and is operated by the Garda Síochána, the national police force. Witness protection in Ireland is used in cases of serious, organised crime and terrorism. The programme is under the operational control of the elite Garda Special Detective Unit (SDU), attached to the Garda Crime & Security Branch (CSB).

The National Police Federation (NPF) is the police union representing Regular Members and Reservists of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) below the rank of Inspector. The NPF represents about 20,000 RCMP Members serving across Canada and internationally.

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) is the staff association for police officers of the rank of Garda in Ireland, founded under statutory provisions. Irish law prohibits members of the Garda Siochana from joining trade unions because of a view from Government that police industrial action would pose a risk to public safety. The GRA is a 1978 reconstitution of a Representative Body for Guards (RBG) set up under 1962 regulations. Three similar organisations exist for Gardai of other ranks up to that of Chief Superintendent. As of March 2023, the association had a membership of almost 12,000. It is funded by a levy of 0.6% of the base salary of all its members.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) is the statutory staff association for police officers of the ranks of Sergeant, Station Sergeant and Inspector in Ireland. Irish law prohibits members of the Garda Siochana from joining trade unions because of a view from Government that police industrial action would pose a risk to public safety. The AGSI is a 1978 reconstitution of a Representative Body for Inspectors, Station Sergeants and Sergeants (RBISS) set up under 1962 regulations. Three similar organisations exist for Gardai of other ranks up to that of Chief Superintendent. As of September 2023, the association had a membership of around 2,500. It is funded by a levy on its members. All Garda members of the appropriate ranks may apply to join.

<i>Mounted Police Association of Ontario v Canada</i> 2015 Canadian Charter/labour law case

Mounted Police Association of Ontario v Canada [2015] 1 SCR 3 is a leading Canadian labour law case concerning freedom of association under section 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Court concluded that the exclusion of Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers from unionization and collective bargaining was unconstitutional, overruling Delisle v Canada. Along with Saskatchewan Federation of Labour v Saskatchewan and Meredith v Canada , the decision in MPAO represented a significant evolution in the interpretation of section 2(d), clarifying the legal standard applicable under that provision.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Swanton, Bruce (1976-12-01). "Origins and Development of Police Unions in Australia". Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology. 9 (4): 207–219. doi:10.1177/000486587600900403. ISSN   0004-8658. S2CID   143660551.
  2. 1 2 Fleming, Jenny; Lafferty, George. "Police Unions, Industrial Strategies and Political Influence: Some Recent History". International Journal of Employment Studies. 9 (2): 131–140.
  3. ↑ "This Week in New Brunswick History" (PDF). gnb.ca. Government of New Brunswick. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
  4. ↑ "CPA Directory". CPA. nd. Retrieved December 27, 2017.
  5. ↑ Pennell, Josh (February 6, 2014). "Legitimate fundraiser resembles phone scam". The Telegram. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Those "Study Sessions"". Montreal Gazette. 24 February 1967.
  7. ↑ Sancton, Andrew; Studies, University of California, Berkeley Institute of Governmental; Studies, University of California, Berkeley Institute of International (1985-01-01). Governing the Island of Montreal: Language Differences and Metropolitan Politics. University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-04906-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ↑ "National Police Federation wins right to represent Mounties in collective bargaining Social Sharing".
  9. ↑ "National Police Federation Board Endorses Tentative Collective Agreement".
  10. ↑ "Airdrie joins AUMA campaign concerning RCMP Collective Agreement". highrivertimes.
  11. ↑ "SPJL – ammattilaisten edunvalvoja". Finnish Police Union . Retrieved 23 March 2020.
  12. ↑ "Review will recommend that gardaí can join trade unions". independent. 12 December 2016.
  13. ↑ Hennessy, Michelle (7 August 2016). "Factcheck: Is it illegal for gardaí to go on strike?". TheJournal.ie.
  14. ↑ Keane, Eddie (September 30, 2016). "Garda industrial action: Having been denied any leverage, GRA is breaking new ground". Irish Examiner.
  15. ↑ "Garda representative conference begins amid acrimony". The Irish Times.
  16. ↑ "Four members of Agsi national executive resign over governance concerns". The Irish Times.
  17. ↑ Brewer, John D.; Wilford, Rick; Guelke, Adrian; Hume, Ian; Moxon-Browne, Edward (July 27, 2016). The Police, Public Order and the State: Policing in Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic, the USA, Israel, South Africa and China. Springer. ISBN   9781349246472 – via Google Books.
  18. ↑ Brennan, Cianan (October 2016). "Looking back: Here's how things looked the last time the gardaí went on strike". TheJournal.ie.
  19. ↑ "Garda body considers legal action over block on union status". The Irish Times.
  20. ↑ "Airport staff picket SIPTU in unions row". independent. 21 December 2000.
  21. ↑ SIPTU Annual Reports 2013/14
  22. ↑ "National Public Service Act". Japanese Law Translation. Ministry of Justice, Japan. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.