Police union


A police union is a trade union for police officers.

Police unions in Canada

The Canadian Police Association is a Canadian advocacy organization for police officers, with membership of over 60,000 police personnel serving in 160 police services across Canada. There are 27 regional chapters at municipal, provincial, and federal levels. These include the Toronto Police Association and the Vancouver Police Union.
A police strike in Montreal in October of 1969 led to the Murray-Hill riot, named for the company that held a monopoly on taxi traffic at the Dorval Airport, now the Montréal–Trudeau International Airport. Amid a background of ethnic tensions, six years of steady bombings of the Front de libération du Québec, rioting by separatists, a coincidental gangland war for control of the city, and a record high murder rate in the city, the Montreal Police Service called for a daylong "study session" at the Paul Sauvé Arena. They were joined by militant cab drivers, who chose the Murray-Hill building as a target. Two persons were killed, several injured, six banks were robbed, vandalism, looting and arson common, and millions of dollars of damage done during the 16-hour walkout. The police did not legally strike as a union. The contractual right to a "study session" as written into the, allowed for such a work stoppage, which is not technically considered a strike.

Police unions in Germany

There are three police unions in Germany: the Trade Union of the Police, one of eight industrial affiliations of the German Confederation of Trade Unions ; the Deutsche Polizeigewerkschaft, affiliated with the German Civil Service Federation; and the Bund Deutscher Kriminalbeamter, which is exclusively for members of the Kriminalpolizei.

Police unions in Sweden

The Police Union is a trade union in Sweden. It has a membership of 18,500, and is affiliated with the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees, and EuroCOP. It also maintains contact with the Swedish branch of the International Police Association.

Police unions in the United States

Police unions in the United States encompass a variety of organizations. About 80% of police unions engaged in employee contract negotiations are independent, operate in a municipality or a region of similar size, and are not affiliated with larger organized labor unions. The national Fraternal Order of Police is the largest single organization, but includes both labor union locals and fraternal lodges. The police union with the largest membership nationally is the International Union of Police Associations, which chartered with the AFL–CIO in 1979.
For decades after the Boston Police Strike of 1919, police and other public employees were prevented by state laws from organizing. Only in the 1960s did those laws change to allow public-sector employees the right to collective bargaining.