ABSTRACT
The labor rights of police officers differ substantially from those of private-sector employees and from those of government employees who are not public safety officers. The labor rights of the most employees are primarily found in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The rights provided for by the NLRA, however, such as the rights to bargain collectively and to strike, do not apply to government employees, including police officers. Similarly, the Landrum-Griffin Act, which secures rights involving the governance of unions and protecting free speech rights of union members, does not include police officers. Federal courts have even suggested that police officers may be entitled to less constitutional protection in their labor-related associational rights than are other government employees (Confederation of Police v. City of Chicago, 382 F.Supp. 624 (N.D. Ill. 1974), affd, 547 F.2d 375 (7th Cir. 1977) (Brancato and Polebaum, 1981, p. 93).
