>#Police federation to ballot members over the right to strike for the first time
>__Officers do not have industrial rights because they are not technically employees but are instead Crown servants__
>By Will Bolton, CRIME CORRESPONDENT
>11 October 2023 • 6:11pm
>Thousands of police officers in England and Wales will be asked to vote on whether they should seek industrial rights, including the right to strike.
>The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), which represents 145,000 officers from the rank of constable to chief inspector, is working with a senior lawyer on how best to campaign for the major change.
>At present officers have no right to strike because they are not technically employees – rather, they are Crown servants.
>This means that while they do not have industrial rights, they also cannot be sacked unless there is a conduct issue.
>The federation said in a statement: “This decision follows more than a decade of requesting the Government to address police officers’ poor working terms and conditions.
>“However, these requests have consistently been ignored by the Government, significantly depriving officers of the pay they deserve and the police service of much-needed resources.
Members angry and frustrated
>“The Government’s neglect has resulted in a growing sense of anger and frustration amongst our membership.
>“On its part, as the voice of more than 145,000 rank and file officers in England and Wales, PFEW is simply responding to its members’ very legitimate expectations and aspirations.”
>The announcement came on the second day of the PFEW annual conference.
>In his speech to delegates, Steve Hartshorn, the chairman, told an audience including Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary: “You know that as an organisation we have for the first time in many years been talking about seeking greater industrial rights.
>“We have seen the industrial unrest this year and seen how it has helped some unions lead a greater negotiation with Government.
>“I don’t know where these conversations will lead and it is for the membership to determine our direction.
>“But be assured this comes because our members feel there has been a real breakdown in the special relationship that has existed between governments of all political colours and the police.”
>Police have been given a 7 per cent pay rise this year, which Mr Hartshorn said should have been 17 per cent.
>In her speech to the conference, Mrs Braverman said the pay rise had been given in a “tough economic climate”, adding: “Prioritising a rise for some of the most selfless, outstanding professionals among us was absolutely right.”
It would be absolutely delicious if this solidarity and worker-despising Tory government being so unutterably shit were the thing that pushed the actual police to win the right to strike.
Having the police on strike will be tantamount to The Purge.
We can see looting, burglaries, and shoplifting soaring as the police have stopped policing them. Expand that to all crime and people will take the law into their own hands because there will be no other choice. You can’t punish them for that after the fact.
Violence would soar as people resort to it as a means to defend themselves and their property. The problem is that they wouldn’t stop just because the strike ended.
The alternative is to quite literally put the military on the street and impose a curfew.
Neither option is appealing in the slightest.
There’s no realistic possibility of them gaining the privilege of striking and if they do then the privilege of striking has to go into the history books entirely.
That’s the least unappealing option of the three.
While I do believe everyone should have the right to strike, does giving the police force this right not open the door to the polic enacting political change and eroding the boundary between law and enforcement of the law
Good–they’ve been tossed under the bus so much by people seeking to placate the outraged Twitter mob.
The continued witch hunt towards the cop who shot Chris Kaba is shameful.
Odds of cops arresting cops over disturbing the peace?
If you fear the policing striking for any amount of time then I assume you support them otherwise. This sub usually just moans about the police, interesting to see people worried about policing when there’s a chance it may have an effect on them.
8 comments
>#Police federation to ballot members over the right to strike for the first time
>__Officers do not have industrial rights because they are not technically employees but are instead Crown servants__
>By Will Bolton, CRIME CORRESPONDENT
>11 October 2023 • 6:11pm
>Thousands of police officers in England and Wales will be asked to vote on whether they should seek industrial rights, including the right to strike.
>The Police Federation of England and Wales (PFEW), which represents 145,000 officers from the rank of constable to chief inspector, is working with a senior lawyer on how best to campaign for the major change.
>At present officers have no right to strike because they are not technically employees – rather, they are Crown servants.
>This means that while they do not have industrial rights, they also cannot be sacked unless there is a conduct issue.
>The federation said in a statement: “This decision follows more than a decade of requesting the Government to address police officers’ poor working terms and conditions.
>“However, these requests have consistently been ignored by the Government, significantly depriving officers of the pay they deserve and the police service of much-needed resources.
Members angry and frustrated
>“The Government’s neglect has resulted in a growing sense of anger and frustration amongst our membership.
>“On its part, as the voice of more than 145,000 rank and file officers in England and Wales, PFEW is simply responding to its members’ very legitimate expectations and aspirations.”
>The announcement came on the second day of the PFEW annual conference.
>In his speech to delegates, Steve Hartshorn, the chairman, told an audience including Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary: “You know that as an organisation we have for the first time in many years been talking about seeking greater industrial rights.
>“We have seen the industrial unrest this year and seen how it has helped some unions lead a greater negotiation with Government.
>“I don’t know where these conversations will lead and it is for the membership to determine our direction.
>“But be assured this comes because our members feel there has been a real breakdown in the special relationship that has existed between governments of all political colours and the police.”
>Police have been given a 7 per cent pay rise this year, which Mr Hartshorn said should have been 17 per cent.
>In her speech to the conference, Mrs Braverman said the pay rise had been given in a “tough economic climate”, adding: “Prioritising a rise for some of the most selfless, outstanding professionals among us was absolutely right.”
It would be absolutely delicious if this solidarity and worker-despising Tory government being so unutterably shit were the thing that pushed the actual police to win the right to strike.
Having the police on strike will be tantamount to The Purge.
We can see looting, burglaries, and shoplifting soaring as the police have stopped policing them. Expand that to all crime and people will take the law into their own hands because there will be no other choice. You can’t punish them for that after the fact.
Violence would soar as people resort to it as a means to defend themselves and their property. The problem is that they wouldn’t stop just because the strike ended.
The alternative is to quite literally put the military on the street and impose a curfew.
Neither option is appealing in the slightest.
There’s no realistic possibility of them gaining the privilege of striking and if they do then the privilege of striking has to go into the history books entirely.
That’s the least unappealing option of the three.
While I do believe everyone should have the right to strike, does giving the police force this right not open the door to the polic enacting political change and eroding the boundary between law and enforcement of the law
Good–they’ve been tossed under the bus so much by people seeking to placate the outraged Twitter mob.
The continued witch hunt towards the cop who shot Chris Kaba is shameful.
> for the first time
Well that’s not right, there have been votes on this before, famously back in the 1970s, most recently in 2013:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/uk/2013/mar/04/police-vote-against-right-to-strike
Odds of cops arresting cops over disturbing the peace?
If you fear the policing striking for any amount of time then I assume you support them otherwise. This sub usually just moans about the police, interesting to see people worried about policing when there’s a chance it may have an effect on them.