The Boston Police Strike of 1919 - Term Paper Example

?THE BOSTON POLICE STRIKE OF 1919. A century later it is difficult to imagine the conditions which resulted in this strike, which was a last ditch attempt by Boston police men to right what they saw as longstanding wrongs. The First World War had caused huge inflation, but wages did not rise to match. Farmer ( 2011) reports that from 1913 to May of 1919, the rise in the cost of living was76 %. The result was a series of strikes in various parts of the country, as workers sought increased pay and better conditions. It is possible that events in Russia meant that they could see how workers could rise up and achieve their ends if they were united. Because of the rise of Communism in Russia there was a fear in America of collective bargaining, so direct action seemed to many to be a better choice. The result was that one in five of America’s workers went on strike in that one year, 1919 (Wieneke 2008) . In Boston there were strikes by telephone operators and elevated train operators earlier in the year and, finding their pay lagging further and further behind rising living costs, with base pay not having risen in over 50 years, the police also rightly felt aggrieved. It seems that many of them were working seven days a week and even if they had a day off they were on call and so could not travel outside the city. The base pay for officers had not changed since 1857, which did not account for inflation, which had increased even more in recent years. Wieneke ( 2008) also reports the long hours worked , in some cases 98 hours per week, and they were required to sleep in station houses which were infested and kept in an awful condition. From 1885 onwards Boston's mayor had controlled the police budget, but their operations and the ways in which that budget was used was under the control of a commissioner who was appointed directly appointed by the state governor. The police force was mainly Irish American and the controllers were Yankees, so according to Farmer ( 2011) the strike also had an ethnic dimension. According to Wienke ( 2008) this situation placed Andrew Peters, the mayor in 1919, in a very difficult position in that his town was being protected by a police force which was not under his control. The policemen tried at first to organise themselves into a union , having consulted the American Federation of Labor in June 1919. In August the police obtained a charter as a union ( Farmer 2011) but this was opposed by the police commissioner as he claimed that any police man was not an employee, but a ‘state officer’. It quickly developed into a ‘them’ and ‘us’ situation. The mayor took an extended holiday according to Wienke ( 2008) but without him Governor Coolidge and Attorney General Albert Pillsbury created legislation which made unionization by public employees illegal . These state officials concentrated upon the legitimacy, or lack of it, of the unionizing of these and other public employees, rather than the strength of the officers complaints. The chief of police, Police Commissioner Edwin U. Curtis, was also strongly opposed to this unionization and suspended the leaders of the group, and later other officers ( Boston Police Strike, undated) and organised police substitutes (Wienke, 2008) . The officers went out on strike on September 9, 1919. The same article quotes Calvin Coolidge, then the state governor, who stated that “There is no right to strike against the public peace by anybody, anywhere, any time.” He then went on to call in the Massachusetts Guard to break the strike, which it did in one day. The policemen involved were not allowed to return to their posts, and instead the jobs were given to returning servicemen. The new force received better wages, worked shorter hours and had government supplied uniforms. The message was clear – striking will get you nowhere (Barclay , 2011). The strikers were labelled as deserters and even traitors. There was an attempt to bring the two sides together with James Storrow, a banker, proposing that the police be allowed to have a union, but they should not have the power to strike ( Farmer, 2011). This attempt at a compromise was backed by the local Boston Chamber of Commerce. Despite these attempts to control matters President Woodrow Wilson declared the strike to be a ‘crime against civilization ‘ ( quoted by Barclay, 2011). It seems that it was considered that the rights of the policemen was secondary to the issue of public safely. There was at the time a great fear of communism, because of what was happening or had recently occurred in Russia. According to Tolman and Mandarini ( undated) this ‘Red Scare’ meant that the public were not sympathetic with the police. Some of them did however take advantage of the strike by looting shops etc as soon as the strike took place. The State Guard was immediately called in to make matters secure. This Day in History, September 9th , quotes the Dallas police chief who said after the strike "Illegality is necessary to preserve legality." Bu tthis would not have been a popular reaction. Tolman and Mandarini ( undated ) quote the LA Times which said :- .No man's house, no man's wife, no man's children will be safe if the police force is unionized and made subject to the orders of Red Unionite bosses. This reflects a huge public suspicion of public sector strikes, much more so than occurs with strike actions in the private sector. It took until 1965 before the Boston Police Patrolman’s Association was to come into being, although police forces across were later brought in as part of the civil service and, for the first time a proper system of training was introduced. The American Federation of Labor (AFL) soon began to create police unions in local areas across America. It seems unlikely that a similar strike would occur today , as, despite problems , it is a very different world. If such a situation were to occur in modern times in some large American conurbation, it is to be hoped that matters would never get to this state, although there are presumably still contingency plans if such a situation were to develop, in the same way that there are plans to intervene in the case of a large disaster. Public employees do have a duty of care , but also the community which employs them has a responsibility towards them. In respect of St Leo’s University Core Values , these state :- Our community's strength depends on the unity and diversity of our people, on the free exchange of ideas, and on learning, living and working harmoniously. If such words had been part of the ethos of Boston in 1919 the situation would never have got to the state. it did. The college also states that its aim is to :- Develop the character, learn the skills, and assimilate the knowledge essential to become morally responsible leaders. This too, concentrating on the individual and their needs would have prevented the situation developing to the point of a strike. According to Levs ( 2012) the power of the unions in America is fading. New legislation has been enacted to further this. Fewer people are actually members of unions and the trades which are unionised have gradually become a smaller section of the American workforce. Yet Zigler ( quoted by Levs , 2012) reminds people of what the unions had achieved:- People need to realize what unions have done for them. Who gave people the 40- hour work week? Who fought for workplace safety? The unions have had both a positive and a negative impact upon American society. I tis the unions which have been credited with helping many millions to achieve their ‘the American dream ‘, but on the other hand they have often been criticized for acting in a heavy-handed, and even threatening , way. Despite many problems in modern day American society , including severe financial problems, the lack of union power probably means that a large scale strike would barely get off the ground and would not have popular support. It is also unlikely to have the repercussions that the 1919 strike had for the police strike leaders. They struck in a very different situation. Others were striking right across the country, as well as closer to home. They seem to have seen it as their only option. It seems unlikely that they would have achieved their aims by any other means either. Yet in a number of American states the unions are still seen as a threat and Lansing ( 2012) reports upon the recent spate of anti-union legislation being passed at state levels. The laws simply stop unions from demanding union dues form members, but this of course means that there is no money to pay officials, produce publicity etc. At the time Lansing wrote ( 2012) 24 states already had such legislation, and these include all of the former confederate areas. He goes on to point out though that the unions now have to actively recruit new members and it also makes them more accountable – people are paying for, and expecting a service for their payments. An all out strike is a very strong indication of how bad things have got. It suggests that other methods have already been tried , but those involved feel that they have no voice. The Boston police strike shows that workers can have great power, even if those involved ultimately suffered adversely as a result of their actions. The new police force however had much better conditions than those prevailing at the time of the strike, so it could be said that good did result. References Barclay, S., ( 2011) The 1919 Boston Police Strike: Conclusion, Examiner. Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/the-1919-boston-police-strike-conclusion Boston Police Strike ,( undated), United States History, Retrieved from http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1348.html Farmer, B., (15th July 2011) The Boston Police Strike of 1919, New American, Retrieved from http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/history/item/4829-the-boston-police-strike-of-1919 Lansing, (2012) Now Michigan, The Economist, Retrieved from, http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21568430-anti-union-legislation-home-car-industry-now-michigan Levs, J.,( 12th December 2012) Analysis: Why America's unions are losing power, CNN , Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/11/us/union-power-analysis St Leo’s University, (undated) Core Values, Retrieved from http://www.saintleo.edu/about/florida-catholic-university.aspx This Day in History, September 9th, The Boston police department goes on strike, Retrieved from http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-boston-police-department-goes-on-strike Tolman,S. and Mandarini, L., (undated ) 1919 Boston Police Strike, Massachusetts AFL-CLO, Retrieved from http://www.massaflcio.org/1919-boston-police-strike-0 Wieneke, D.,( 2008) Boston Police strike of 1919, Boston History and Architecture, Retrieved from http://www.iboston.org/mcp.php?pid=policeStrike Read More