After reading the editorial written by Eddie Simmons, president of the Ethical Society of Police, all I can say is “déjà vu all over again.”
This is the exact and constant challenge that confronts the St. Louis Fire Department. Local 73 is the bargaining agent for all firefighters – a bargaining agent organization with a 98 percent white membership. When you have an essentially “all white” entity that makes all of the decisions, that group is the only group that gets its interests met.
A glance at the roster of leadership for the St Louis Police Officers Association is chilling. The organization brags about the numbers of African-American members, and yet there are no black officers in decision-making positions. Add to that an openly hostile attitude towards any discussion about race, and there is only one conclusion to be drawn – the SLPOA should not be the bargaining agent.
For goodness sake, we have an African-American president. Even the Republican Party has elected (for the first time in history) an African-American man to lead them out of their political abyss. So, there is no excuse for this organization. More importantly, there is no reason to put the SLPOA in the driver’s seat.
As Simmons said, the solution is simple – create a collaborative group made up of all interested parties. That is what this nation is about, and that is what this city should be about.
Wayne Luster
F.I.R.E.