Apolice union is atrade union forpolice officers. Police unions formed later than most other occupations, reflecting both a conservative tendency and relatively superior working conditions.[1] The first police unionsformed 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 ofpolice strikes from 1918–1923 and the formation of police unions globally.[1]
ThePolice 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 andwork-to-rule campaigns.[2]
The first police union formed in Australia was the Police Association of South Australia in 1911, representing Australia'soldest 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 dayPolice Federation of Australia and is affiliated with theACTU.[2][1]
The first Canadian police union was formed on September 5, 1918 inSaint John,New Brunswick.[3] TheCanadian 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 theToronto Police Association and theVancouver Police Union.
Apolice strike in Montreal in October 1969 led to theMurray-Hill riot, named for the company that held a monopoly on taxi traffic at the Dorval Airport, now theMontréal–Trudeau International Airport. Amid a background of ethnic tensions, six years of steady bombings of theFront 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, theMontreal Police Service called for a daylong "study session" at thePaul 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 theprovincial 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 theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police from forming a union. This prohibition wasstruck down by theSupreme Court of Canada. In 2019 theNational Police Federation's members voted 97% in favour of a motion to certify as a union after having filed an application with theFederal 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]
TheFinnish Police Union (Finnish:Suomen Poliisijärjestöjen Liitto, SPJL) was established in 1923. According to the union as of 2020, it has 11,000 members.[11]
There are three police unions in Germany: theTrade Union of the Police (Gewerkschaft der Polizei), one of eight industrial affiliations of theGerman Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB); theDeutsche Polizeigewerkschaft, affiliated with theGerman Civil Service Federation; and theBund Deutscher Kriminalbeamter, which is exclusively for members of theKriminalpolizei.[citation needed]
InIreland, it is illegal for members of the national police force, theGarda Síochána, to form a union, and they are forbidden by law fromstriking.[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 theAssociation of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) and the rank and file have theGarda Representative Association (GRA).[15][16][17]
The closest to apolice strike was on 1 May 1998, when in the "Blue Flu" incident, 5,000 gardaí reported sick; public order was maintained by putting theIrish 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 theCouncil of Europe's committee on social rights ruled that Ireland was in breach of theEuropean social charter in denying gardaí the right to industrial relations mechanisms.[19]
TheAirport Police,Dublin Harbour Police andDún Laoghaire Harbour Police are part of theSIPTU union.[20][21]
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]
ThePolice Union (Swedish:Polisförbundet) is a trade union inSweden. It has a membership of 18,500 (including police academy students), and is affiliated with theSwedish Confederation of Professional Employees, andEuroCOP. It also maintains contact with the Swedish branch of theInternational Police Association.
The National Union of Police and Prison Officers was effectively forced to disband by thePolice Act 1919, in response topolice strikes in the preceding year, which banned police in Great Britain from being members of trade unions or taking industrial action. (TheConstabulary 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: thePolice Federation of England and Wales, theScottish Police Federation, and thePolice Federation for Northern Ireland.
Police unions in the United States encompass a variety of organizations. About 80% of police unions engaged inemployee contract negotiations are independent, operate in a municipality or a region of similar size, and are not affiliated with larger organized labor unions. The Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC) is the largest statewide organization in America. The nationalFraternal 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 theInternational Union of Police Associations, which is chartered with theAFL–CIO since 1979.
For decades after theBoston Police Strike of 1919, police and other public employees wereprevented by state laws from organizing. Only in the 1960s did those laws change to allowpublic-sector employees the right to collective bargaining.
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