Skip to content Skip to navigation

When Organized, Labor Will Prevail

September 1, 2013
Martin Halloran SFPOA President

As you read this, Labor Day 2013 has just recently passed. Since this is my first Labor Day as your President, and since the highlight of this past week has been the opening of the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, I felt compelled to offer my thoughts surrounding this holiday and about organized labor throughout the country and in our great city.

Contrary to popular belief, the Labor Day holiday was not created to mark the end of the summer season. Nor was it created to purchase a new mattress, or to get an additional 25% off at your local Wal-Mart. The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated in New York City on Tuesday, September 5, 1882. Thousands of union men and women marched through the streets in recognition of the strides and achievements they had gained in the workplace. Those who organized this first celebration kept the movement alive and spread the word. Within a few years, civic leaders throughout the eastern and mid-western states officially observed this holiday. By 1894, over 25 states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act establishing the first Monday in September of each year a national legal holiday. The holiday has now morphed into more of a parade or picnic atmosphere with emphasis on family and paying tribute to the American worker.

The organized labor movement, which began in the latter part of the 19th century, accelerated through the Great Depression era due to the New Deal policies of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. There was an enormous surge of private-sector union membership at this time, and it reached its peak in the mid 1950s. Many benefits that all of labor may take for granted today were hard-fought battles back in the day. Let’s not lose sight of the fact that there was a time in this country when the minimum work week was well over 48 hours, there was no vacation pay, or overtime pay, or health and welfare benefits, no Social Security allowance after retirement, few company pensions, and no minimum wage, just to name a few.

Due to the inherently dangerous nature of law enforcement, I am mindful of the strides made by organized labor as it relates to occupational safety and working conditions. Take the new Bay Bridge for example. This incredible, singled-towered, self-anchored suspension span is the largest of its kind in the world, and an engineering marvel. During its years of construction, not a single worker was killed. Compare this to the days of the 1930s when construction of the original San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge took place. 26 men lost their lives building the bridge before its grand opening in 1936. The lives saved in today’s workplace are credited to the safety equipment --- and safety inspections -- demanded by organized labor over the years.

Public sector unionism, which includes the SFPOA, grew rapidly during the 1960s and 1970s due to the expansion of local, state, and federal government agencies. The sheer number of members, from janitors to jailors, made this workforce a party to be recognized and dealt with. It was during this period, and through the 1980s and 1990s, that organized public safety members gained ground in wages, job security, working conditions, binding arbitration, collective bargaining, and retirement benefits, just to name a few. Whether it was Proposition A: Police Facilities Bond of 1987 which upgraded the dilapidated district stations in the city, or Proposition D: Police and Fire Bargaining & Arbitration of 1990 that was perhaps the greatest advancement for the POA in the past forty years, we are indebted to those past labor leaders who organized the men and women of our associations and got the job done.

Those struggles have continued into these challenging times with Proposition C that buoyed city pension and health care benefits in 2011, and thus stabilizing SFERS and retirement benefits for all city employees. The struggles will continue into the future with Proposition A of 2013 that will ensure health care benefits for current and future retired city workers.

As baseball season winds down, and it is painfully clear that Giants fans are back to saying “wait until next year”, the analogy comes to mind that it was the team that was the winner in a World Champion season and not any individual player who may have hit a grand slam. POA active and retired members have and will continue to enjoy our wages, rights, and working conditions if we remain organized and work as a team. If necessary, the POA will work with all of city labor to get the scores on the board. The POA has a voice and/or a representative in organizations that work collectively as a team. The California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations, the Public Employees Committee, the California Peace Officers Memorial Board Foundation, the Health Service System, the CCSF Retirement Board, the Alliance For Jobs & Sustainable Growth, the Big 11, and the big 50 are some of the largest groups both locally and nationally.

As one of the largest and strongest labor organizations in the city, we may not always agree with some political positions or statements made by other labor groups. But, when it comes down to the betterment of the American worker, we stand together. Members of the POA must continue to get involved, remain organized, and stand united. If so, then we shall prevail.

Slainte!