The police unions across the state have planned a major labor protest against state policies today at 2 p.m. in Plymouth during an AFL/CIO conference that Governor Deval Patrick is expected to attend.
The Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, the Massachusetts Coalition of Police, the International Brotherhood of Police Officers, the Boston Police Detective’s Benevolent Society, Boston Police Superior Officers Federation, the Boston EMS union, and several other smaller unions across the state will be protesting at the Radisson Hotel during the AFL/CIO State of Unions conference “to call attention to Governor Patrick’s unjust and disgraceful attacks upon all Police Officers,” the unions jointly said in a statement today.
Police claim that the state government has denied them fair collective bargaining rights, and unions are still steaming about issues, including civilian flaggers at construction sites and retirement benefits.
Patrick’s public schedule has him speaking at the conference at 3 p.m. today.
“The protest is being held by police officers and their families and will force the Governor to answer, to the public and organized labor, for his continued anti-labor, anti-police positions and policies,” the unions said in a statement.
“The Governor needs to be held accountable to these families,” said Thomas Nee, the President of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association and President of the 300,000-member National Association of Police Organizations. “He has disgracefully attacked the laws governing the collective bargaining rights and benefits of these police officers, as well as all organized labor, across the state. By doing so he has impacted their families and their quality of life. These are the same men and women sworn to uphold the law and protect the public. Governor Patrick is now using these dedicated public servants as props in his ill-advised strategy for his re-election. It is my duty as a labor leader to call on the family of labor and direct their attention to Patrick’s anti-labor attacks. He promised transparency but has worked in the backrooms to deliver the worst leadership for working men and women we have seen in this generation."
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