The Boston Police Strike of 1919 Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The Boston Police Strike of 1919 - Term Paper Example 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 â€Å"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.... 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 â€Å"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