As the protests against systemic racism and police violence continue, we must reflect on what HUCTW and organized labor can do to eradicate racism in our workplaces, communities, and the wider world. In doing so, we must also examine the role police unions play in perpetuating police brutality and discrimination. Working people’s right to collectively band together to negotiate pay, benefits, working conditions, and protections from unfair treatment for themselves and their coworkers is vital. But collective bargaining must not be used to shelter or embolden members who abuse their positions through racism, violence, corruption, and criminal behavior. HUCTW and all of our siblings in the labor movement, including police unions, must ensure that labor serves as a positive force in the fight against discrimination, racist violence, and white supremacy.
We have provided some resources that analyze the connections between police violence and misconduct and police unions in the United States, as well as some resources that discuss possible solutions and reforms:
- “Police unions and police misconduct: What the research says about the connection,” Christopher Ingraham, The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/06/10/police-unions-violence-research-george-floyd/
- “Let the Sunshine In: Illuminating the Powerful Role Police Unions Play in Shielding Officer Misconduct,” Katherine J. Bies, Stanford Law & Policy Review: https://law.stanford.edu/publications/let-the-sunshine-in-illuminating-the-powerful-role-police-unions-play-in-shielding-officer-misconduct/
- “How Police Unions Enable and Conceal Abuses of Power,” Steven Greenhouse, The New Yorker: https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/how-police-union-power-helped-increase-abuses
- “How Police Unions Became Such Powerful Opponents to Reform Efforts,” Noam Scheiber, Farah Stockman and J. David Goodman, The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/police-unions-minneapolis-kroll.html
- “A Major Obstacle to Police Reform: The Whiteness of Their Union Bosses,” Eli Hager and Weihua Li, The Marshall Project: https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/06/10/a-major-obstacle-to-police-reform-the-whiteness-of-their-union-bosses
- “Police Unions: It’s Time to Change the Law and End the Abuse,” Benjamin Sachs (Harvard Law School Professor), On Labor: https://www.onlabor.org/police-unions-its-time-to-change-the-law/
- “Limits on use of force is a better solution than banning police unions,” Aaron Bekemeyer, The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2020/06/09/limits-when-police-can-use-force-is-better-solution-than-banning-police-unions/
Thank you,
HUCTW