IT IS REALLY no surprise that the Association of Cyprus Police has started behaving in the same militant way as the public servants’ and teachers’ unions. The leaders of the association, the policemen’s union, have not failed to notice that we have become a union-run country, in which arrogant union bosses call all the shots, and have decided to take advantage of the prevailing climate.
So when the chief of police announced a change in the daily working hours (all policemen would have to do an eight-hour shift, instead of the 12-hour shift every other day) for the force last month, the association decided it would to fight the decision. Two of its representatives had a meeting with the Attorney-general to enquire whether the chief’s decision could be challenged. As a reaction, the Chief ordered disciplinary proceedings against the association’s representatives for breaking the chain of command – they had sought no authorisation for the meeting.
After this perfectly justified decision, the association’s leaders reacted in the same arrogant way as their comrades in other public sector unions – they set an ultimatum to the Chief of Police. They would sit at negotiations with the Chief on condition that he dropped the disciplinary proceedings, rescinded his decision for the eight-hour shift and satisfied the working hour demands of Fire Service officers. What would be the point of the dialogue if the Chief satisfied all the demands of the association in advance?
Compromise is a dirty word for Cyprus’ union bosses, so after the association’s representatives failed to have their conditions satisfied at a meeting on Monday, they announced the staging of a police protest outside the presidential palace on July 24. Only policemen who were off-duty would attend and they would not be in uniform, the association announced.
It was inevitable that the association would adopt the tactics of other unions – making threats and staging public protests – even though, technically speaking, it is not a union. The association’s bosses want to run the force, just like the teaching union bosses run our schools and the civil servants union boss runs the economy. The lunatics have taken control of most aspects of the asylum so why should things be different in the police force?
There are very good reasons why. The level of discipline necessary for a police force to function smoothly is higher than in other organisations; respect for the chain of command, which is totally ignored in all other state bodies, is essential, but would be rendered a joke when the union hacks take control. The Chief and his assistants would lose the power to lead the force as the union would start calling the shots.
So far, the government has avoided taking a stand on the dispute, but if its past record is anything to go by, in a few months the Police Association could be renamed the Police Union and be giving orders to the Chief of Police. This is what happens when no limits are imposed on union power.
