Cop and teacher unions: forever entrenched?
The offices of the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association, left, and firefighters protest vaccine mandates in New York City. Credit: Daniel Goodrich, Corey Sipkin
Public-sector unions across New York have a famously large amount of say in how elected officials run government agencies — and at what cost.
By definition these organizations do not bargain, in the manner of traditional trade unions, for a fair share of corporate profits they helped create. They negotiate instead for an ever-bigger cut of public tax revenues.
That’s their job, but their political role goes beyond it. Municipal union leaders can and do try to fire and hire their elected bosses — by backing or opposing them at the polls through campaign funds and endorsements.
For Long Island, there is no more glaring example of a public union expanding its clout beyond salaries and fringes than the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association.
The latest instance arose last week when top PBA brass did a premature touchdown dance over the requested removal of its nemesis, Republican ex-cop Rob Trotta, from the county legislature’s public safety committee.
Lawyer and bestselling author Philip K. Howard cited systemic tolerance of police abuse as an example in claiming that empowering public employee unions stands in the way of good government.
Howard argues that our constitutional structure says public employees must serve the public, not act as an organized force against it.
“Derek Chauvin, the policeman who killed George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, had a history of citizen complaints and was thought to be ‘tightly wound,’ not a trait ideal for someone patrolling the streets with a deadly weapon,” Howard writes. “But under the police union’s collective bargaining agreement, the police commissioner lacked the authority to dismiss Derek Chauvin, or even to reassign him.”
Intervention in the police-discipline process, in ways that might not benefit the public, has long been a trademark of the highhanded Suffolk PBA, as reported over the years in Newsday.
But there are other examples of other unions resisting actions that should be more the prerogative of democratically elected public representatives.
In New York, teachers’ unions have long lobbied influentially to limit the expansion of charter schools, which are popular in some communities.
In New York City, the Uniformed Firefighters Association fought punishment of its members for defying the city’s highly justified COVID-19 vaccination mandate.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s rigid union work rules have been blamed for high costs and delays in major transit construction projects.
Unions boast, however, that their presence guards against bad ideas.
Civil Service systems, which these organizations often enforce, were formed in the first place to curb politicians’ use of public payrolls as candy stores for favor and patronage.
If need be, municipal unions can keep those in charge from cheapening professional practices, depending on the task.
For their part, union proponents also contend that by winning members robust benefits they can prod the private sector to keep up.
Looking ahead, any serious drive to chop down municipal labor unions would reflect today’s major-party polarization.
PBAs and the National Border Patrol Council favor the Republicans, while the American Federation of Teachers sits firmly with the Democrats. As a result, “bad teachers” are a perennial piñata for the GOP as are “bad cops” for the Democrats.
Beyond the factions, author Howard sounds credible when he says, constitutionally speaking, that “elected executives must be empowered to manage public employees," and “democracy can’t work without accountability.”
But getting closer to that goal would be one huge lift, whatever the tactic.
Columnist Dan Janison's opinions are his own.
Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.
