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Police unions “should be able to negotiate disciplinary measures” to protect police officers from unfair sanctions, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said in an interview with “Axios on HBO”.
Why this is important: After George Floyd’s death last year in an arrest and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests across the country, law enforcement unions are at the center of a heated debate in the labor movement.
- Racial justice leaders, the BLM movement and some AFL-CIO-affiliated unions believe police unions do not belong to the labor movement because they use their collective bargaining powers to shield cops from liability and block reform efforts.
- They say it is inappropriate to negotiate leniency in cases of police misconduct and that the agreements make it difficult to fire officers who abuse their power or mistreat vulnerable minorities.
Trumka pushed back, saying that without the power to negotiate disciplinary action, the results could be “capricious” unfairly to officers.
- Among the various federations of the AFL-CIO is the International Union of Police Associations, which negotiates on behalf of some local police unions.
- “Listen, I come from a coal mine. My grandfather helped organize this coal mine and we had no protection, ”Trumka said. “The employer did all the disciplinary work. And I could tell you that it was never fair and it didn’t help policing.
Yes, but: Police officers are permitted to carry weapons and use deadly force in their work.
- Progressive critics of police unions argue that negotiating disciplinary proceedings for an officer who allegedly killed an unarmed black man is a fundamentally different proposition than negotiating penalties for a coal miner or teacher.
Other strong points: During the interview, Trumka also defended his legacy in the labor movement amid a period of decline.
- He aggressively fended off criticism from young union leaders that the movement under his leadership has invested too much money and is focusing on political donations and not enough on organizing.
- On the subject of reopening schools, he sided with the Chicago Teachers Union and rejected comments from the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that vaccinations should not be a prerequisite for return of teachers to classrooms.
- Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot today announced a tentative agreement that would reopen schools for parents seeking formal education.
Editor’s Note: Updates with a tentative deal for Chicago and its public school teachers.
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