Police Administration - Chapter 11

Assume that union A is conducting an organizing drive for patrol officers in Tampa. It needs to have a "majority" of patrol officers sign cards authorizing the union to represent them in collective bargaining. Further assume that unions B, C, and D are also holding their organizing drives for patrol officers in Tampa at the same time. With four unions seeking to represent patrol officers what does "majority" mean?

50% plus one.

From the union's perspective, what is a "trade-off"?

A demand which will be dropped as partial or full payment for some other benefit.

Who generally serves on union and management teams during negotiations?

Although the composition of management's and the union's bargaining teams vary somewhat by jurisdiction and even within jurisdictions over time, the figure below approximates the "typical" municipal situation. See Figure 11.4 of the textbook for more details.

Used in states where collective bargaining is not required by statute.

Bargaining not required model.

Weakest type in terms of protecting the organizing rights of law enforcement officers.

Bargaining not required model.

Maintenance of ____________ clauses enhance(s) a labor organization's ability to prevent changes in past practices

Benefits

Allows public employees the right to select exclusive representatives

Binding arbitration model.

Strongest type in terms of protecting the organizing rights of law enforcement officers.

Binding arbitration model.

Although public employee collective bargaining laws vary by state, the general thrust of the laws can be summarized by three simplified models. What are these models?

Binding arbitration, meet-and-confer, and bargaining not required.

A judgment made by a neutral third party to settle a dispute between labor and management, in which both parties agree in advance to abide by the result, is referred to as:

Binding arbitration.

A union's ____________ will usually not be a member of the bargaining unit; rather, he or she will be a specialist brought in to represent it.

Chief negotiator.

What are the ethical and personal dilemmas an officer might face as he or she participates in a job action?

Citizens could be deprived of critically important services. Citizens could receive citations for acts for which they normally wouldn't be cited.

Negotiation between an employer and a labor union, usually regarding issues such as wages, benefits, hours, and working conditions, is referred to as:

Collective bargaining.

Which of the following general types of binding arbitration laws includes situations where an arbiter must award the final offer made by one of the parties and is not free to craft a compromise position?

Final offer issue by issue arbitration.

With respect to the job action called "the vote of confidence," the typical result is:

Finding of no confidence.

List and describe the four major forms of job action.

Four major forms of job actions are: 1) The vote of confidence, which typically produces a non-binding finding of no confidence in the police leader; 2) work slowdowns, in which the police work, but do so at a leisurely pace, lowering productivity and producing work backlogs; 3) work speedups, which are accelerations of police activities, producing an overabundance of one or more types of police services; and 4) work stoppages, which is the withholding of all services by union members by going on strike or by epidemics of the blue flu.

Identify and briefly discuss the seven major factors combined that led to public sector collective bargaining.

From 1959 through the 1970s, a number of events combined to foster public-sector collective bargaining. These significant forces were: 1) the needs of labor organizations, 2) the reduction of legal barriers, 3) police frustration with the perceived lack of support for their "war on crime," 4) personnel practices in police agencies, 5) salaries and benefits, 6) violence directed at the police, and 7) the success of other groups.

____________ may be limited to matters discussed specifically in a contract, that are primarily contract-related, or that pertain to the job.

Grievances.

Which of the following areas is not examined when understanding the impact of police unions on the community?

Impact on public safety.

Which of the following general types of binding arbitration laws includes situations where an arbiter has the obligation to render a decision on each issue independently and craft an award on each issue?

Issue by issue arbitration.

Why shouldn't a Chief of Police personally participate in bargaining sessions?

It makes the task of leadership more difficult.

The best way handle ____________ is for both management and the union to take the position that they have mutual responsibilities to avoid them.

Job actions.

What steps can a chief take to impact the "code of silence" in their agency?

Leaders must have and communicate a commitment to integrity. Hire employees who place loyalty to principle above loyalty toward people. Incorporate ethics training. Have FTOs instruct new officers to reject the "us versus them mentality". Maintain open, honest communication. Discipline officers deserving discipline and recognize those with positive behavior. Establish a "whistleblower" policy that supports and protects employees.

Would you prefer to serve on the management or union team during labor negotiations?

Management. Prefer to take an administrative approach. Union team. Prefer to represent the interests of police officers.

Only obligates employers to meet and confer with no method of impasse resolution

Meet and confer model.

The least common collective bargaining law governing law enforcement.

Meet and confer model.

Which of the following is not a factor that helped to foster public-sector collective bargaining?

Needs of police organizations.

Do you believe the chief of police should be an active member of the management team during negotiations with the union? Why or why not?

No. The appearance of the chief at the table makes the task of leadership more difficult. To appear there on equal footing with the union's bargaining team on one day and then to step back atop the organizational hierarchy on the next requires greater adjustments by both the chief and the union members than the creation of any benefits associated with his/her presence mare worth.

In recent years, police unions have been called upon not only to fight for pay raises for the members, but also to oppose threatened ____________.

Pay cuts.

Historically, the police have felt isolated in their effort to control crime. This stems from two factors: ____________ and the impact of the due process revolution.

Perceived public hostility.

Which of the following is a common type of citizen oversight agency?

Police auditors.

Each state has a ____________ that is charged with administering the collective bargaining statuses covering public employees of that state.

Public Employees Relations Commission (PERC)

What is the name of the law that opened up previously-closed bargaining sessions to the general public?

Sunshine law.

What are the four areas that need to be examined in order to fully understand the impact of unions on a community? How do they impact the community?

There are four areas that need to be examined in order to fully understand and appreciate the impact of police unions, both within their respective agencies as well as in the community. These include the impact on discipline and accountability, the impact on the police subculture, the impact on city or county finances, and the impact on politics. Impact on Discipline and Accountability: Police unions play a role in reinforcing the norms of police subculture. There are specific provisions in many collective bargaining agreements that inhibit investigations. Police unions have had a major impact on the development of citizen oversight agencies, whether in the form of civilian review board or police auditors, or some other arrangement. Impact on the Police Subculture: The police subculture is a multi-dimensional phenomenon, of which the police union is only one aspect or influence. There are great differences in the informal cultures among police departments, and the relative influence of the police union varies from department to department. The differences in local police subcultures have some significant and measureable difference in all aspects of policing, including overall management practices, accountability and discipline, officer interactions with citizens, and local politics. Impact on City or County Finances: Police unions have been generally successful in negotiating good salary and fringe benefit packages for their members. This has had some significant impact on the finances of cities and counties. Although the nature of this impact is not known, it is believed that police negotiations set the standard for negotiations by other municipal employees. It is not known to what extent negotiated police salaries and benefits force cities and counties to reduce expenditures for other services, such as streets, parks, and libraries. Impact on Politics: Police unions are generally a well-organized interest group with significant financial resources and political clout. They regularly endorse political candidates for office, support or oppose proposed ordinances or referenda, and influence city or county budgets. Police unions are also well organized to support and provide financial assistance to candidates for local office, particularly mayor and city council. Unions have been known to have a dramatic affect on local elections.

The decision as to what is an appropriate grouping of officers for the purposes of collective bargaining, technically referred to as ____________, is profoundly significant and one about which management and the union may have sharp differences.

Unit determination.

Your union steward has told all police officers in your department to reduce by one-half the number of tickets normally written. This action is being taken in response to a new general order written by the chief against the union's wishes. This is an example of a:

Work slow down.

The union has encouraged all police officers to strictly enforce minor traffic violations that are usually ignored. This is an example of a:

Work speed up.

What is the biggest hammer in any union's toolbox?

Work stoppage.

In your opinion, should police organizations be allowed to collectively bargain and thus have union representation for their officers? Justify your response

Yes: Can lead to a high-performance workplace where labor and management jointly solve problems on an equal standing, clearly defines administrative rights, both employers' and employees' rights are protected, provides budgetary predictability, promotes fairness and consistency in policies and decisions, officers may choose whether they want representation No: Restricts management's authority, creates potential for polarization between employees and managers, increases participation by external entities (i.e. arbitrators), restricts management's ability to deal directly with individual employees, etc.

Which of the following is considered to be an "unfair" labor practice?

a. The domination of a labor organization by an employer. b. The failure to furnish information relevant to the collective bargaining process. c. A refusal to bargain in good faith over subjects that are mandatory for bargaining. d. All of the above.