Source: In These Times
Photo by DCStockPhotography/Shutterstock
In July 2020, aĀ month after protests over racial injustice and police violence set the AFL-CIO headquarters on fire, Americaās largest union coalition formed a āāTask Force on Racial Justiceā as aĀ signal that it was taking the issues seriously. AĀ subcommittee of that task force was charged with producing aĀ report on the touchy issue of the labor movementās relationship to police unions. In These Times has obtained aĀ copy of that committeeās draft report, which is currently circulating within the group before being released to the public. As it stands, the report amounts to aĀ definitive rejection of calls for the labor movement to separate itself from police unions, and aĀ clear statement that the AFL-CIO intends to stay closely aligned with its policeĀ members.
The subcommittee on policing that produced the report is being led by United Steelworkers vice president Fred Redmond and by Liz Shuler, the AFL-CIOās second-in-command, who is widely seen as aĀ possible successor to current AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka. The committee is made up of representatives from 13 unions that have police members, along with the Teamsters and SEIUāāāneither of which are in the AFL-CIO, but were invited to participate. Among those included is the International Union of Police Associations (IUPA), the only all-police union in the AFL-CIO. The makeup of the committee therefore lends the imprimatur of the AFL-CIOās top leadership to aĀ group made up exclusively of those already obligated to representĀ police.
Since the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin in May of 2020 and the subsequent wave of Black Lives Matter protests, the left wing of the labor movement has made calls for the AFL-CIO to kick out police unions altogether. Last June, the Writers Guild of America East, an AFL-CIO member union, called on the federation to disaffiliate from IUPA. [Disclosure: IĀ am on the council of the WGAE and voted in favor of that resolution.] AĀ number of local branches of various unions passed similar resolutions, and the Seattle police union was kicked out of the countyās central labor council in June 2020. Mary Kay Henry, the head of SEIU, vowed that the expulsion of police unions from the labor movement would have āāto be consideredā if those unions didnātĀ change.
Yet the top leadership of the AFL-CIO stood behind police unionsā place in organized labor, even in the face of harsh criticism from IUPA itselfāāāthe head of the police union called Trumka āādisgraceful.ā Last June, as the clamor over the issue reached its peak, Liz Shuler suggested that rather than kicking out police unions, the AFL-CIO should have them adopt āācodes of excellenceā to change police behavior fromĀ within.
And that is exactly what the draft of the long-awaited AFL-CIO report on policing says. The 13-page draft report, titled āāThe Labor Movementās Public Safety Blueprint for Change,ā is not final and presumably could still change before being made public. But it is the product of many months of work, and is currently being considered inside the subcommittee. The draft reportās introduction makes clear that it is written from the perspective of police unions themselves: āāUnion public safety professionals, and our unions, have aĀ duty to call out the wrong doers and actions that damage people in these communities and, in doing so, the integrity of our profession. We can no longer stand idly by when those who fail to uphold their oath and duty take actions that stain the work of law enforcement,ā it says. āāWe must also advocate to protect the right of all working people to have aĀ voice on the job and bargain collectively with their employer.ā (The insistence on protecting collective bargaining for police is not an idle issueāāādays ago in San Antonio, voters narrowly rejected aĀ ballot proposition that would have rescinded that police departmentās collective bargainingĀ rights.)
The draft report lays out aĀ series of recommendations for police unions and police departments. The cornerstone of these is the āāUnion Law Enforcement Accountability and Duty Standards (UāLEADS) Program,ā aĀ program āādeveloped, owned and institutedā by police unions āāto train local unions to have the ability to weed out wrongdoers from union membership.ā Thus, Shulerās suggestion of āācodes of excellenceā inside police unions would form the backbone of the AFL-CIOās response to the past year of protests against theĀ police.
The draft report does not describe the substance of the UāLEADS training program in detail. But it does seek to distance police unions from the actions of bad police officers. āāPolice unions have little or no control over the hiring process, and we do not possess the ability to choose who will be given aĀ badge and the duty of protecting and serving,ā it says. āāIt is the unionās responsibility through collective bargaining to ensure fair processes for our members and fair treatment from the employer. Decisions on pre-employment standards, background checks, training and hiring are made at the sole discretion of the employer and managementĀ designees.ā
The draft report also serves as an explicit rejection by the AFL-CIO of the demand from racial justice advocates to defund the police. It calls for more, not less, investment in police and publicĀ safety.
āWe hear the calls coming from communities across the United States to abolish or defund the police. And we hear demands for reforms and stronger accountability in the wake of unarmed people losing their lives in interactions with law enforcement. While we do not believe that defunding or abolishing the police is aĀ solution, it is clear we must make changes in law enforcement to build aĀ sense of mutual respect, trust and accountability,ā it says. āāThe way to improve public safety systems and services actually requires greater investment. This is no different than many other āābasicā government services, including education, water, sewer andĀ roads.ā
Other recommendations in the draft report include a āādifferential response modelā of policing aimed at focusing police more on crime and not on work that would be better handled by EMTs or social workers; streamlined hiring processes and more professional development for police officers; better mental health services for police; more training for police, including in aspects of community policing, implicit bias, and de-escalation; incentivizing higher education for police; and paying policeĀ more.
One noticeable omission in the draft report is the word āāracism.ā Despite coming out of the AFL-CIOās Task Force on Racial Justice, the subcommitteeās draft report consistently portrays police as functionaries in aĀ system that must be improved, rather than as part of the problem. The draft report calls for āāunderstanding cultural impacts, as well as implicit, conscious and unconscious biases,ā for diversity in police hiring, and for aĀ variety of training programs in āātopics such as implicit bias, fair and impartial policing, cultural competency, and other areas that help build trust and legitimacy in diverse communities.ā But nowhere does the report grapple directly with the possibility that police officers or their unions might be responsible for any racial oppression. Indeed, even its language acknowledging the unpopularity of police unions portrays those unions as helpless victims: āāThe labor movement recognizes that the lack of mechanisms for local unions to hold wrongdoers accountable and protect the profession has contributed to the publicās poor view of police unions and tarnished the reputation of theĀ profession.ā
When asked about the AFL-CIOās efforts on police reform, the coalitionās communications director Tim Schlittner said there was not an exact timeline for release of the report, but that the subcommittee was āāfar alongā in its work. Schlittner would not respond to aĀ list of specific questions about the draft report, or make Shuler available for an interview, saying āāWe are not going to comment on aĀ leaked document that is still in draftĀ form.ā
If the AFL-CIO does release the draft report in something close to its current form, it will be the clearest statement yet that the labor federation sees police unions as an important part of the labor movement, and that the most powerful union coalition in America believes that the labor movement is responsible for protecting the interests of police union members. Last July, Richard Trumka said that āāThe labor movement is committed to being the tip of the spear in the fight to bring long overdue racial justice to our country.ā As aĀ test of that commitment, the draft report is an ominousĀ sign.
Hamilton Nolan is aĀ labor reporter for In These Times. He has spent the past decade writing about labor and politics for Gawker, Splinter, The Guardian, and elsewhere. You can reach him at Hamilton@āInTheseTimes.ācom.
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