With Labor Day’s passing comes a harsh reminder that the U.S. government simply doesn’t care about your rights. Everything we take for granted, such as the 8-hour work day, child labor laws, OSHA, and the other scant worker protections in place, were paid for with blood, not benevolently provided by a government interested in improving people’s lives.
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire of 1911 resulted in the deaths of 146, most of which were immigrant and Jewish women, because the factory owners kept the doors locked during work. This led to sweeping reform in factory working conditions and labor laws, as stated by PBS. In the Lattimer Massacre of 1897, a group of police officers shot and killed 19 coal miners protesting working conditions, which gave union efforts and labor movements newfound vigor.
As we’ve talked about before, this brutal fascist death state will employ the maximum extent of its police and military institution just to stop you from having extra vacation days. Our deeply conservative, negligent government does not care about you; police officers do not care about you, and nowhere is this more readily apparent than in police unions, the largest and most powerful unions in America.
According to the New York Times, police unions have the power to dismiss misconduct among their members and wield profound influence in blocking accountability efforts. Police unions have unfathomable resources, both in membership and finances. For example, police unions in New York City spend millions of dollars to sway local government and lobby against budget cuts and reform.
This happens across the country. Kim Gardner, who was a St. Louis prosecutor, faced attacks from police unions and lawmakers when she attempted to address police violence. One leader of the St. Louis police union reportedly said that Gardner needed to be removed “by force or by choice.” Gardner ultimately stepped down from her position earlier than expected (via AP News).
When George Floyd’s killer Derek Chauvin was charged and sentenced with murder, it was police unions on the front line, sinking their teeth into the lawmakers responsible for the decision. When the Obama administration sought police reform, it was police unions, again, who were the loudest and most vicious opponents.
Make no mistake: This is not the case of a few bad apples or an issue of reform. Cops cannot be reformed. The police, as an institution, must be fully abolished as we have done to slavery. This is because law enforcement comes from slavery itself.
As reported by Time, law enforcement was born out of for-profit private security, organized to brutalize the poor and protect private property, namely Black slaves. Slave patrols consisted of military and private companies, organized to find runaway slaves and violently counter abolitionist efforts.
The purpose of law enforcement has always been to destroy labor movements and protect private property. The Lawrence Strike of 1912, the Homestead Strike of 1892, and the Great Strike of 1877 were all met with extreme violence and suppression from the U.S. Army and law enforcement.
Over decades, police officers gained a plethora of protections and legal powers, turning them into the brutal, authoritarian institution they are today. Law enforcement has never been nor ever will be pro-Labor. Back in 2021, cops attacked and arrested essential union workers, who were protesting for a mere $1 raise, according to Vice.
Starbucks has also used police officers to break up union and protest efforts. As said by Progressive, when Boston Starbucks workers protested for weeks, police officers were seen frequenting the property, harassing strikers, and threatening them with arrests (they kept a prisoner transport vehicle parked right by the strike). As The Mary Sue has written before, Starbucks, as a corporation, has come under fire for “egregious” treatment of unionization efforts.
Unions are good. Cops are not. Officers of the law aren’t laborers like you and me. They actively uphold the ruling class, work against our interests, and brutalize us on a daily basis. Full abolition of the law enforcement institution is the only way forward.
(featured image: DanielVilleneuve/Getty Images)
