1. Police Administration: Structures, Processes, and Behavior
(Eighth Edition)
Charles R. Swanson, Leonard Territo,
and Robert W. Taylor
Labor Relations
Chapter 11

2. Introduction
No single force in the past 50 years has had such an impact on the administration of police agencies as collective bargaining
Collective bargaining: negotiation between an employer and a labor union
Usually regarding issues such as wages, benefits, hours, and working conditions

3. The Unionization of Police
The needs of labor organizations
The reduction of legal barriers
Police frustration with the perceived lack of support for their “war on crime”
Personnel practices in police agencies
Salaries and benefits
Increase in violence directed at police
The success of other groups
From the 1950s through the 1970s, a number of events combined to foster public-sector collective bargaining.
What legal barriers were reduced during this time?

4. The Impact of Police Unions on the Community
Discipline and Accountability
Police Subculture
City or County Finances
There are four areas that need to be examined in order to fully understand and appreciate the impact of police unions in agencies as well as in the community
Discipline and Accountability: The impact of police unions on discipline and accountability is arguably the issue that causes the greatest concern.
Police unions play a role in reinforcing the norms of police subculture
Code of silence: refusal of officers to testify against other officers who are accused of misconduct
There are specific provisions in many collective bargaining agreements that inhibit investigations
Procedures for investigation of alleged misconduct (time, place, manner of interrogations)
Development of citizen oversight agencies
Police Subculture
Overall management practices
Accountability and discipline
Officer interactions with citizens
Local politics
City or County Finances
Negotiate good salary and fringe benefits for their members
Politics
Regularly endorse political candidates for office
Support or oppose proposed ordinances or referenda
Influence city or county budgets
Politics

5. Structure of Laws Governing Collective Bargaining for Law Enforcement
Collective bargaining agreements
The wages and benefits of law enforcement officers are guaranteed for the duration of the agreement
Officers have a forum to have their disputes heard
National Labor Relations Act
State governments (and their subdivisions of cities and counties) are excluded from the “employer” provisions
Collective bargaining laws for public sector vary between jurisdictions
The broadest grant of rights to law enforcement officers exists in collective bargaining agreements.

6. Collective Bargaining
Models
Binding
Arbitration
Meet and
Confer
Bargaining
Not
Required
Binding Arbitration: a judgment made by a neutral third party to settle a dispute between labor management, in which both parties agree in advance to abide by the result
Meet and Confer: employers are only obligated to meet and confer with representatives, with no method of resolution specified
Bargaining not Required: collective bargaining is not statutorily required by the state
The distribution of states with collective bargaining and those without such laws is quite geographically distinct
States without bargaining laws are centered in the South and the Southwest
States with bargaining laws are found in the Northeast, in the Midwest, and the West Coast

7. Unfair Labor Practices
A refusal to bargain in good faith over subjects that are mandatory for bargaining
Interference, restraint, or coercion of employees because employees have exercised their collective bargaining rights
The “domination” of a labor organization by an employer
The failure to furnish information relevant to the collective bargaining process
Inappropriate “interference” by an employer with the internal activities of a labor organization
Discrimination against employees who have exercised their collective bargaining rights
States with collective bargaining almost always have statutes that list a number of labor practices deemed to be “unfair.”
The usual list of unfair labor practices include those listed above.

8. Subjects for Bargaining
Mandatory
Permissive
Mandatory Subjects
Wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment
Must be bargained if raised by either side
Permissive Subjects
Usually fall under the general heading of “management rights”
Those over which bargaining may occur but is not compelled
Illegal Subjects
Those over which the employer is forbidden by law from bargaining
Illegal

9. Establishing the Bargaining Relationship
The process of establishing a bargaining relationship is straightforward
But is fraught with the opportunity for disputes
Management may see collective bargaining as a disruptive factor to the running of the department
The union begins an organizing drive by working to get 30% of the class of employees it seeks to represent to sign authorization cards (figure above).

10. Negotiations
Although the composition of management and union bargaining teams varies somewhat by jurisdiction, the figure above shows a “typical” municipal situation. Occasionally, a member of the city council also sits in as an observer.
Selecting Teams
Union’s chief negotiator will usually not be a member of the bargaining unit
Rather, she will be a specialist brought in to represent it
Avoid zealots
Preparing for Negotiations
Management
Select negotiation team
Agree on site where negotiations will take place
Establish bargaining schedule in conjunction with the union
Gather, tabulate, and analyze information and data
Determine position on union’s anticipated preliminary demands
Develop objectives it seeks to achieve during forthcoming process of bilateral determination

11. Negotiations First meeting Initial session Friendly conversation
Opening statements
Ground rules reviewed, modified, or developed
Examine contract the union is proposing
Number of bargaining sessions range from one to several dozen
Range from 30 minutes to 10 hours

12. Sample Two Column Layout
Union
Management
Expendable
Accepted
“Trade-off”
Accepted with minor modification
Negotiable
Rejected
The union will have categorized each clause in the proposed contract as being:
Expendable: under certain circumstances it will be withdrawn as a symbol of good faith
Trade-Off: will be dropped as a total or partial payment for obtaining some other benefit
Negotiable: the benefit needs to be obtained in one form or another
Non-Negotiable: benefit is wanted exactly as proposed
Management will study the information and both parties will return to the table. Management will respond to the union’s proposal by indicating which clauses it has:
Accepted
Accepted with minor modification
Rejected
Wishes to make its own proposals and counterproposals
Then the bargaining begins.
Non-Negotiable
Wishes to make proposals and counterproposals

13. Grievances
May be limited to matters discussed specifically in the contract, that are primarily contract-related, or that pertain to the job
Grievance procedure is a formal process that has been pre-negotiated
Grievance: a complaint or an expression of dissatisfaction by an employee
Grievances are inevitable.

14. Arbitration Issues and Decision Making
Why arbitrate?
Legitimate concern
Union shows symbolic support for member
Administration show symbolic support for manager
Unions are selective in the cases they take to arbitration
Win 77% of cases they take to arbitration cases
Critical factor: Speed with which the case is heard
About 90% of arbitration cases involve discipline against an officer
Arbitrator will typically look at the “totality” of the circumstances to determine mitigating or aggravating factors (if any)

15. Job Actions
Work Stoppage
Confidence
Vote of
Work Slowdown
Work Speedup
Types of
Job Actions
Activities by employees meant to express their dissatisfaction
With a particular person, event, or condition
Or to attempt to influence the outcome of a matter pending before decision makers
Meant to signal: “We are here, organized, and significant, and the legitimacy of our position must be recognized.”
Vote of Confidence
Usually produces a finding of no confidence
How rank-and-file members signal their collective displeasure with the chief administrator of their agency
Work Slowdown
Work at a leisurely pace, causing productivity to fall
Work Speedups
Acceleration of activity, resulting in the overproduction of one or more types of police services
Creates public pressure on elected and appointed leaders to achieve a union-desired goal
Work Stoppage
Strike – withholding of all labor’s services
Blue Flu – officers organize mass absences on the pretext of sickness for the purpose of protest against their employer
What are some law enforcement examples of work slowdowns, work speedups, and work stoppages?

16. Police Unions: Political Context
Safety concerns
Washington, D.C. “Killing field”
Political activism
Lautenberg Amendment (“Brady Bill”)
Budget and staffing
Methods of communication
TV, billboards, etc.
Political events
Unions typically focus on economic factors, also take stances on other issues

17. Administrative Reaction to Job Actions
No simple answers
Ignore or take action
Mindset should be to
avoid job actions
Anticipatory
Strategies
City managers need
contingency plans
Must be temperate
in public comments
Efficient and prompt
neighborhood
communications
(neighborhood
groups, civic clubs)
During the
Job Action
Tension in the
workplace (even
contempt) for
management,
colleagues who did
not strike
Attempts to create
goodwill soon after a
job action can
backfire
Aftermath