Breaking News
Police Shortage Hits Critical Mass         Troopers Accused in OT Scam         DROP Lawsuit: Judge Rules Against Cops         The Real Reason They’re After Your Pension? Money!         DROP Program Getting Negative Press         Millennials, White-collar Workers Bringing New Life to Unions         New Study Reveals Police Rarely Use Force         Fake Cop Badges are Everywhere         Best Path for a Trim, Healthy Body         Teachers Get 5% After Strike; Victory for Cops, Too!         When is Police “Use of Force” Justified?         Police Unions & the Video Craze         Scary Day for Police Unions         Night Tours Can Hurt Your Health         Stress Weakens Brain Power; Exercise Can Bring It Back         Police Association President Arrests Suspect—On His Street!         An Assault on Common Sense         NYPD Sergeant Acquitted On All Charges         Fingerprint Scanner to Track On-the-job Time         New Jersey Cops Fighting for Their Pensions         Police and Attorney Say “No Way” to Restrictive Use of Force Policy         Jury Is Out On This Police Review Board         A Police Union With Power!         Stressed-Out Officers: Gone After Eight Years         More Union Members in 2017         Police, Fire Lose Court Fight Over Pensions         Baltimore Discovers It Wants and Needs Its Police         VIDEO: Austin Cops Leaving in Droves         Off-Duty Jobs Scam Uncovered         Deputies Demand $500,000 In Back Pay         Stressed Out Officers, Gone After 8 Years         City Scrambles to Save Pensions         Police Boss Gets Jail Time, Rank and File Up In Arms         CONTRACT REJECTED! Younger Officers Upset With High Healthcare Costs         Police Pensions Protected (For Now)         Let’s Support Firefighters; Cops Will Be Next         Man With a Plan         FBI Will Not Investigate Detective’s Homicide         What About “Warning Shots?” The Debate Continues         Dallas 9-1-1 Back On Track         Hope for Pay Raises in St. Louis         VIDEO: NYC Hero Cop Speaks         New Policies on Deadly Force         ALADS Continues Legal Fight Over “Brady” List         Cops Forgo Raise to Keep 4-3 Schedule         One Cop’s Take On Colin Kaepernick         VIDEO: “We Brought Our Brother Home”         LISTEN: No Sleep? You’d Better Fix That!         VIDEO: What Really Happened         ACLU: Detective’s Right to Free Speech Was Violated         Time To Stop the Finger Pointing         If Things Go Bad, You Need a Plan         Dear Anthem Protesters: Police are Not the Enemy         Real Police Facing Private Takeover         Hard Work, Heartache, and a Lot of Love         VIDEO: Harvey’s Horrific Aftermath         VIDEO: Keeping World Leaders Safe         Bill Bratton On the Future of American Policing         Who Will Pay for New Contract?         VIDEO: Detectives Fight Plan to Cut Pensions         Taking Care of Others, Then Our Own         Public Support For Unions is Growing         Minneapolis Considering Residency Incentives         VIDEO: Cop Battling Cancer is Harvey Hero         VIDEO: Dancing With the Cops?         Cops Speak Out Against Use of “Thin Blue Line” by Hate Groups         What Is the Arnold Foundation Hiding?         Decision May Violate Officers’ Rights         Court Deems Evergreen Clause Constitutional         No Raises for Cops; $140M for Stadium         Philly Cops Win $8M O.T. Settlement         We Condemn Nazis and White Supremacists         Mounties Face Crisis, No Solution in Sight         Push to Oust Louisville PD Chief Intensifying         CSLEA is Newest Member of PubSecAlliance         Ford is Fixing the Problem         “It’s Been An Honor to Work With Chief Marshman”         Automatic Dues Collection Under Attack         Cops Use Video to Go for Pay Raise         Understaffed Leads to Rise In Crime         R.I.P. Deputy Haak         Ruling On Body Cams: Use Must Be Negotiated         Rochester Police Locust Club (NY) Joins PubSecAlliance         Officer Acquitted Of Negligent Homicide         Texas Cops Oppose Anti-Union Bill         Insults Divide, Decency Unites         FOP Prez Threatened, Police Investigate         VIDEO: Sergeant’s Indictment Prompts Outpouring of Support         VIDEO: Sounding the Alarm On a Manpower Crisis         VIDEO: Dramatic Body Cam Footage!         VIDEO: Police Union Advises Action Amid “Breaking Point”         VT First State to OK Compensation for PTSD         Officer Suicides: Agencies Must Do More         Outsiders Clamor for Police Contract Changes         Governor Furloughs Workers, Hits the Beach         Recruit the Best at U.S. Army Reserves         VIDEO: Sergeant Charged With Murder 2         R.I.P. Officer Korchak         More Officers Taking Own Lives         Pride in Honoring Our Own         A Tale of Two Chiefs         New Accountability System Gives Civilians More Power         Police Unions Call for “Rational Voice”         Texas Moves to Save Pensions         City Refuses to Pay Officer’s Legal Bills         Rank and File Question Dubious Hiring         The Mounties Have Never Had to Contend With a Union         Police Week: Anguish, Anger, Empathy         Rookies Sue for OT Pay During Academy Training         FLSA Pay Ruling: Use Cash, Not Benefits         Record Crowd Attends Annual Candlelight Vigil         Everyone Needs Sleep, Especially Cops         Questions Raised About New John Jay President         Hennepin County Sheriff Joins NYPD Shield Program         Big Surprise: Paper Misrepresents Contract Talks         County Budget Leaves Us Underfunded         VIDEO: Omaha Unions Say No to Gov         City Says “No Police Floats” In Parade         One-Minute Man         Is This the Solution to Cop Shootings?         Ingredients for Better LE Outcomes         Why the Police Need Unions         Mounties Demand a Union & Contract         Indebted to Some Very Brave People         We’ve Been Abandoned by Politicos, Command Staff         VIDEO: The Most Hated Man In Pensionland         Underfunded Pensions: a Disaster Waiting to Happen         Another Ambush Attack!         Today, It’s You; Tomorrow, It’s a Security Guard         VIDEO: NJ Police May Get Control of Unfunded Pensions         Thousands of Officers to Get BIG Bonuses         Improving Economy Hurts LE Recruitment         Another Fundraising Scam         Threats to Police Retirement Programs Escalate         Conflict Rises, Billboards Go Up         NJ Unilaterally Changing Police Contract         Pensions Slowly Being Reduced and Replaced         Baltimore Chief: “No More Plainclothes”         When Will All This Stop?         Top Police Union Leader Joins Protest         VIDEO: “Line of Duty” is HERE!         Chicago Cops Get Thanks They Deserve         Mayors Missing as Pension Fund Goes Down         Pension Bill Draws Protest         Deputies Association Hires High-Powered PR Exec         Finally, a Contract for NYPD Officers         Nebraska Corrections Officers Seek Out F.O.P.         Outrage Grows Over Pension Plans in Peril         Sanctuary Cities: Police vs. Mayor         Police Unions Seek to Overhaul Obama’s Reforms         Super Bowl Security         Look Hard at Your Pension Fund         Pension Mediation Talks Cease; Lawsuit Looms         How Much Would You Pay for Policing?         Hazardous Workplace         Officers Leaving in Droves         Technology, Police, and Privacy         Fake Guns Destroy Lives         War Against Unions Gaining Ground         Washington D.C. Police Union in Turmoil         Teamsters Face 20% Cut in Pension Benefits         Body Cam Screw-ups Lead to Mistrial         VIDEO: Body Cam Catches Shootout         Restraining Order for Black Lives Matter Leader         New Chief Has Fight On His Hands         Pension Panic Spreads         Carrots and Sticks         Another Agency May Fold         Community and Police Join in Prayer         VIDEO: We Are There For You!         Feds Seek Repeat of Disastrous Police Hiring Practices         VIDEO: Officer’s Gift of Kindness Keeps on Giving         Is Trump Going After Collective Bargaining Rights?         Police Union Not “App”y         Police Union Fights Back Against Budget Cuts         Police Union Reinstates Body Cam Program         Citizen Wants Officer Fired for FB Post         VIDEO: Use of Force Policy Fiasco         Attacks on Law Enforcement         VIDEO: Where Is the Outrage?         Millions May Lose Overtime Pay         Mayor Violates Officer’s Right to Due Process         VIDEO: Police Union Heals With Song         State Moves to Nix Benefits From Collective Bargaining         City, Officer Cleared in Wrongful Death Case         Trump Puts OT, Benefits On Chopping Block         VIDEO: A World Without Law Enforcement         VIDEO: Shake It Off         HUGE Refund for AZ Public-Safety Pensioners         Eloquent Goodbye         Cheerleader In Chief         The Trouble With Trauma         Shocking News About Local Gov Pension Funds         See You In Court!         One of the Good Guys         Chief Resigns After No-Confidence Vote         Zika Virus Hits Cops         Iowa Officers Ambushed         Policing the Police         For Real Community Policing, Let Officers Do Their Jobs        
By May 17, 2017 Read More →

The Mounties Have Never Had to Contend With a Union

For decades, commanders in Ottawa have quashed and co-opted bids by the rank-and-file to organize. With the potential to represent nearly 18,000 cops, such an entity would be strong enough to challenge almost all entrenched police policies in Canada. But in 2015, the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional for the Mounties to be blocked from unionizing.

Via The Globe and Mail:

Early this month, RCMP Sergeant Chris Backus and his colleagues purchased some neon pink and orange duct tape. The West Coast Mounties stuck it on top of the traditional yellow pant stripes running the length of their legs. With that, they helped kick-start a workplace protest that spread like wildfire among uniform-wearing Mounties from coast to coast.

The subtle but significant show of Mountie disgruntlement is intended to draw attention to wages and working conditions in the national police force. Pay for police officers has stagnated in the RCMP, even as paycheques in big-city forces have ballooned.

In those cities, it is not unheard of for police to alter their uniforms when they want to make a statement. But for Mounties, it’s only recently that long-standing lines have started to fade. Stoicism, discipline and deference to the chain of command have always characterized the RCMP rank-and-file.

Yet this is changing as Canada’s biggest police force wrestles with stalled salaries, the looming prospect of a police labour union and ongoing officer-safety issues starkly highlighted by a Labour Code prosecution.

The RCMP will be put on trial in Moncton on Monday. The federal labour department’s law-enforcement wing has charged its police-force cousin with four counts of having failed to provide patrol officers with sufficient skills, equipment or weaponry to defend against a gunman who shot three Mounties dead in 2014. Should the RCMP be convicted of this it could pay millions of dollars in fines.

The two-month trial threatens to highlight a series of chronic issues that ordinary Mounties suggest have long been swept under the carpet.

“When it comes to equipment, when it comes to pay, the RCMP is the dollar store of policing,” Sgt. Backus, of the RCMP’s Sunshine Coast detachment, said in an interview, adding that thousands of Mounties have joined the pant-stripe protest. Rhyming off complaints about staff shortages, broken squad cars and dangerous duties, the 19-year veteran said he is past the point of caring about the career consequences of urging colleagues to tape over a yellow stripe that harkens back to 19th-century cavalry traditions.

“If I get disciplined, or if I get fired for this, it will be the proudest moment of my RCMP career,” he said.

Decisions in Moncton

The image of Constable Douglas Larche in his traditional RCMP uniform is now cast in bronze. In Moncton, a statue memorializes him and two other officers shot dead within 20 minutes of each other.

Constable Larche’s widow says she supports the pant-stripe protest and the labour-code trial in the hope that they prompt discussion and action.

“I feel that this trial is sadly needed to make it safer for police officers,” Nadine Larche, a mother of three daughters, told The Globe.

On June 4, 2014, 24-year-old Justin Bourque donned military fatigues, grabbed his semi-automatic rifle and marched through town intent on killing police. He wounded two RCMP officers and killed three – Constable Larche, David Ross and Fabrice Gevaudan – before being arrested.

Mr. Bourque is now serving what is considered the toughest life-sentence – no chance of parole for 75 years – ever meted out in Canada.

What’s at issue during the current trial are operational decisions made by senior RCMP commanders who had the job of rolling out training, weapons and equipment to detachments across Canada.

Labour Code charges are more typically laid against federally regulated corporations complicit in accidents – for instance, farming employees crushed by grain shipments or transport workers maimed by malfunctions.

There is no question that the RCMP were badly outgunned in Moncton. Pistols and short-range shotguns proved no match for Mr. Bourque’s military-style rifle.

Compounding the tragedy was the fact that bigger guns had been promised for years, but were not yet available to detachment members. “The time it took to roll out the carbine project, including the training and delivery of the weapons to members of the RCMP, has taken far too long,” reads a 2014 postmortem report on the Moncton massacre.

Underwhelming pay hikes

For the wider public, police labour unions are polarizing. They aggressively promote officer safety and salaries, but often at significant public cost. The RCMP leadership has also lately expressed fears about “militarization” – or the notion that police develop a siege mentality and lose vital problem-solving skills if powerful weaponry and armour are always within reach.

The Mounties have never had to contend with a union. For decades, commanders in Ottawa have quashed and co-opted bids by the rank-and-file to organize. With the potential to represent nearly 18,000 cops, such an entity would be strong enough to challenge almost all entrenched police policies in Canada. But in 2015, the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional for the Mounties to be blocked from unionizing.

READ MORE

Posted in: Pay Wars

Comments are closed.