Thinking Citizen Blog — “Don’t reform policy unions. Abolish them”
Thinking Citizen Blog — Saturday is Justice, Freedom, Law, and Values Day
Today’s Topic — “Don’t reform policy unions. Abolish them.” (Jeff Jacoby, Boston Globe)
Two weeks ago, the summary of an article in the New York Times arguing that the police should be abolished. Today, the case for the abolition of police unions. Is this just a specific instance of the problem of public sector unions in general? Do teachers unions, for example, serve the interests of America’s minorities? Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
THE CASE OF MINNEAPOLIS — data since 2012
1. “Minneapolis’s Office of Police Conduct Review has received 2,600 misconduct complaints since 2012.”
2. “Only 12 have resulted in discipline, and the most severe punishment was a 40-hour suspension.”
3. Minneapolis Mayor Frey: “Unless we are willing to tackle the elephant in the room — which is the police union — there won’t be a culture shift in the department.”
THE CASE OF CHICAGO — Jason Van Dyke and Laquan McDonald (2014)
1.”Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago officer convicted of murdering 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014, had been the subject of 20 complaints — ranking in the top 4% of Chicago’s police department — including 10 that alleged excessive use of force.”
2. “A jury awarded a man $350,000 after finding Mr. Van Dyke employed excessive force during a traffic stop. Yet Mr. Van Dyke was never disciplined.”
3. “A task force on police reform after the McDonald murder found that “collective bargaining agreements create unnecessary barriers to identifying and addressing police misconduct” and “essentially turned the code of silence into official policy.”
THE BIG PICTURE — Private sector versus public sector unions
1. “Collective bargaining in business is adversarial. But public unions sit on both sides of the bargaining table since they help elect the politicians with whom they negotiate.”
2. “Democratic lawmakers, in particular, depend on public unions for political support, and disciplinary protections are easy to give away in contract talks.”
3. “Teachers unions are the most powerful example, as collective bargaining frustrates school reform and protects lousy teachers, relegating low-income and minority kids to failing schools.”
NB: “If big-city Democrats really want to change police incentives, rather than merely pass reform gestures, they’ll have to address collective bargaining. Let’s see if their social-justice convictions overcome their desire for political backing from public unions.”
The excerpts are from the second link.
Don’t reform police unions. Abolish them — The Boston Globe
Opinion | The Problem With Police Unions
PolitiFact — Did FDR oppose collective bargaining for government workers?
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned in the last week related to justice, freedom, the law, or basic values. Or the coolest, most important thing you learned in your life related to justice, freedom, the law, or basic values. Or just some random justice-related fact that blew you away.
This is your chance to make someone’s day. Or to cement in your mind something that you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply about something dear to your heart.
