While not completely similar to the recent events in Madison, Wisconsin, the Boston Police Strike of September, 1919, does present an opportunity to examine the reasons for the work action and the course of action taken by a future President of the United States, the then governor of Massachusetts, Calvin Coolidge.
Desperately underpaid (annual salary of only $1,100) and working out of filthy hovels used as police stations, the 1,500 man Boston Police Department of 1919 had formed a union which the Police Commissioner,Edwin U. Curtis, refused to recognize. From the Boston Police Patrolman's website:
The police strike threatened to turn into a general trade union strike that would have paralyzed the city. Coolidge mobilized the Massachusetts National Guard to maintain order and stop the looting.In 1919, during the inflation that followed World War I, Boston police officers saw their wages hold steady while the cost of living and the incomes of other groups rose. The Boston Police Social Club affiliated as the Boston Police Union. The Police Commissioner refused to recognize the new union and terminated scores of union leaders. On September 9, 1919, the strike started with 1,117 of the city's 1,544 officers walking off the job. Governor Coolidge called in the state guard to put down the looting that resulted in 7 deaths and hundreds of injuries. The strikers were fired and never rehired. Coolidge went on to become President of the United States.
Coolidge maintained the following rationale
“There appears to be a misapprehension as to the position of the police of Boston. In the deliberate intention to intimidate and coerce the government of this Commonwealth a large body of policemen, urging all others to join them, deserted their posts of duty, letting in the enemy. This act of theirs was voluntary, against the advice of their well-wishers, long discussed and premeditated, and with the purpose of obstructing the power of the government to protect its citizens or even to maintain its own existence. Its success meant anarchy. By this act, through the operation of the law they dispossessed themselves. They went out of office. They stand as though they had never been appointed.Due to the extreme working conditions that infuriated the striking officers, it seems harsh that none of them were allowed to return to duty. The reason for this was simple and it still stands as a tribute to the service required of every law enforcement officer:
."... a policeman does not strike; he deserts. The policeman’s status is not that of a laborer but a defender of peace and order.”Go to Canada Free Press for more.
In Madison we are not dealing with police officers who have taken an oath to defend the Constitution of (your State) and the Constitution of the United States. Teachers are not expected to maintain order and are not issued weapons in order to do so. After seeing some of the footage of these striking teachers I thank God that liberal socialists do not believe in arming themselves.
But they are doing the same thing that the Boston cops tried to do, they are trying to "intimidate and coerce" the State of Wisconsin into doing something that is contrary to the will of Wisconsin's elected officials. The teachers' unions seek to inflict their will on the entire State, thus superceding the laws of the land. This is a bare faced grab for political power by the state's public service unions.
17 comments:
Great post Sig as the parallel makes the point.
I wish our UK teachers would go on strike. The Police could give them a good kicking for screwing up their childrens education and life chances (on behalf of all of us).
How can anybody be surprised by thug tactics when the federal government is being run by Cook County?
This is a bare faced grab for political power by the state's...
I think you meant to write "governor" there. Oh no, you're just retarded, my bad. Carry on.
The tax payers of Wisconsin need to insist these government employees be fired.
Thanks Chris - there are responsible ways for a group of government workers to make their point. Wisconsin is not one of them.
banned - do the bobbies kick anyone anymore? From what I read, and please correct me is I'm wrong, British law enforcement has made complete surrender to the God of Political Correctness. It would seem that they are now arresting child who draw threatening stick figures or who point their finger and go "bang."
Zio - there are those of us who had a good idea of what was coming. The rest of the nation stands with jaws agape as the media completely abdicated their responsibility to expose this poser in the WH.
Bret Alan - Usually at the top of his game, Rhod forgot to put a extra roll of toilet paper in the bathroom and here you come. Even though you left without wiping yourself or washing your hands, it is a mercy that you left quickly.
While you're busy licking your fingers, try to remember that the duly elected Governor of Wisconsin is doing what he promised to do - that is how he got elected by a majority of the State. That's how things work in this country. Unfortunately that's not how the feverish squirrels work while running in the cage between your ears.
Odie - just the ones that broke the conditions of their employment. What needs to be investigated are those who were solicited from outside the state to come to Madison and interfere with the state's constitutionally mandated processes.
@sig94 There are Officers who specialise in "arresting child who draw threatening stick figures or who point their finger and go "bang." but there are plenty of others who abandon their ID numbers to more effectivley assault and even maim members of the public going about their lawful protests.
google video 'delroy smellie'.
banned - "...abandon their ID numbers"
Got me there. He was hiding his identification? It is not uncommon for riot cops to forgo the wearing of badges and name tags. It gives the crowd less opportunity to pick out a particular cop and harass him or try to harass his family while he is on duty.
Sig, in Albania, "Ginx" is a virulent STD contracted by intimacy with dogs.
Rhod - Ohhhhhh. That's where the all the crotch/butt/foot licking comes from,
These government unions, scratch that - these union people, received the benefits of the boom times, and now don't want the effects of the bust.
It's that simple. We must convince them or force them to do so.
Sig94, all uniformed UK Police are obliged by law to display idwntification numbers on their eppaulettes but it is becoming increasingly common for them to, illegally, remove them before battering the public.
Since WW2 100 UK citizens have died in police custody, not one Officer has been charged, with anything.
banned - we prolly have had a lot more die over here whilst in custody. Can't say too much because I am not familar with the laws of evidence in the UK. But from what I have experienced, an actual death due to police abuse is fairly rare. Most of the time there are other circumstances, particularly with the level of drug abuse today and the poor physical condition of alcoholics and addicts. Not saying it doesn't happen, but it it is fairly uncommon here.
I spoke with the Executive Director of the International Association of Police Oversight Committees a number of years ago regarding the establishment of Civilian Review Boards. He stated something very interesting - there are enough sources for people to file a complaint (at least here in the US) at the local, state and federal level to get an investigation started. Perhaps it is not so in the UK?
Post a Comment