Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the City of New York

The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the City of New York is the largest labor union representing police officers of the New York City Police Department.^[1]

Several representatives of the association sit on the board of the New York City Police Pension Fund.^[2]

History

As a benevolent or fraternal organization, the New York City's Patrolmen's Benevolent Association was founded in 1892. In 1901 it pushed for and got an 8 hour workday.^[3] In 1967 New York state passed the Taylor Law, which sets the rules for municipal union organization with regard to representation and bargaining. New York City set up the Office of Collective Bargaining for municipal union demands.^[4]

Relationship with Mayor John Lindsay

The PBA was successful in its campaign to defeat Mayor John Lindsay's proposed Civilian Complaint Review Board in 1967.^[3]

Enraged by the Knapp Commission's report on police corruption, police officers in the most impacted divisions and precincts began to stage unsanctioned industrial actions.^[5] These culminated in the illegal five-day police strike of 1971.^[6][7]

Relationship with Mayor David Dinkins

In September 1992, thousands of police officers blocked the Brooklyn Bridge to protest police oversight proposed by Mayor David Dinkins. Other uniformed officers jumped over police barricades to rush City Hall. Some were openly drinking. On-duty officers did little to control the riot.^{[8] [9]}

Rescue and recovery work at the World Trade Center

Many officers perished at the Twin Towers during the September 11, 2001 attacks in Lower Manhattan. Scores more were exposed to toxins—produced by the collapse of the Twin Towers—in the course of their work-shifts during the Rescue and recovery effort after the September 11, 2001 attacks at Ground Zero.

Surviving first responders and their advocates are asserting that their illnesses have resulted from exposure to toxins at Ground Zero. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the City of New York (PBA) filed a lawsuit to secure benefits for Officer Christopher Hynes, 36. (In March 2004 he was diagnosed as having sarcoidosis. However, the NYPD has refused to bestow line-of-duty injury status to him. Hynes had worked for 111 hours at Ground Zero and its vicinity. He claims that he was never given a proper respirator for his work at Ground Zero. He has had difficulty in paying medical bills because of the denial of line-of-duty status.) The PBA noted that firefighters, by contrast, have been given line-of-duty status for their injuries.^[1][10]

Relationship with Mayor Giuliani

PBA relations with Mayor Rudy Giuliani (mayoralty, 1994–2001) were marked by years of labor disputes.

In 1997 it led a campaign asking Mayor Rudy Giuliani to not attend the funerals of policemen killed on duty.^[8]

The PBA urged members to resist the mayor's incentive pay initiative in 1998.^[11] Additionally, in a five-year contract, officers were subject to a two-year freeze on salaries before seeing salaries increased 13 percent during the last years of the Giuliani tenure.^[12]

During November, 2007, in anticipation of the 2008 presidential election, PBA president Patrick Lynch criticized the relationship between Mayor Giuliani and the NYPD. He said that the union would not endorse Giuliani. He criticized the mayor on pay issues, saying, "The inability to keep veteran cops on the job or to recruit adequate numbers of new ones can be traced directly back to the Giuliani mayoralty." He added, "While the city was rolling in money, the Giuliani administration cried future poverty and stuck New York police officers with three and half years without a pay raise."^[12] Lynch further asserted that "Rudy Giuliani has no real credentials as a terrorism fighter."^[13]

Statements on Eric Garner's death

PBA president Patrick Lynch blamed the death of Eric Garner on Mr. Garner's resistance to arrest.^[14][15]

Relationship with Mayor Bill de Blasio

Following NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio's election in 2014, running largely on a message of reigning in abusive NYPD tactics, including "Stop and Frisk" the PBA began actively organizing against Mayor de Blasio, accusing him of failing to support the NYPD, as it has charged other mayors over the decades.^[8]

Following the killing of two NYPD officers in Brooklyn on December 20, 2014 in an execution-style shooting, the PBA's anti-de Blasio activities reached an all-time high, with PBA President Patrick Lynch accusing Mayor de Blasio of having blood on his hands, and of encouraging violence against police and acting like the leader of a "f-ing revolution." Further, the PBA asked members to sign letters ordering the Mayor not to attend their funerals, should they perish in the line of duty.^[8][16] PBA president Patrick Lynch urged the police to stick close to the rules to protect themselves.^[17]

Additionally, communities of throughout New York City condemned the PBA's activities in the latter half of 2014, calling Mr. Lynch's comments wildly insensitive, inflammatory, and unbecoming of a public servant.^[18] In response, Mr. Lynch has said he views critics of the NYPD as "enemies" and has further stated that the NYPD is shifting to a "wartime" posture in response.^[19] Many fear Lynch's comments will further inflame the more radical elements of his opposition, may serve to incite further acts of violence against the NYPD, and lead to further police abuses carried out as a result of the "wartime" posture.^[20][21]

See also

• Health effects arising from the September 11, 2001 attacks
• Rescue and recovery effort after the September 11, 2001 attacks

References

External links

• New York City Police Benevolent Association