Economics ETDs

Publication Date

12-8-1977

Abstract

When representatives of the city of Albuquerque and the Albuquerque city police were unable to negotiate a new contract when the previous contract expired on June 30, 1975, the police officers engaged in a work slowdown by issuing less traffic citations. On Saturday, July 12, the officers on the third shift were told to end their slowdown. Instead, the officers on the third shift began a wildcat strike that afternoon. By Saturday night, 240 officers had joined the strike; that number soon grew to about 340 officers out of a total police department of 504. On the following Thursday, those 340 officers submitted their resignations so as not to be held in contempt of court after a district court judge issued an injunction ordering them back to work. After two mediators had attempted to reach an agreement satisfactory to both sides, a three-man factfinding panel was established to further aid negotiations. One issue that the factfinding panel successfully dealt with was what to do with seven sergeants that had joined the officers on strike. (A.P.O.A.), offered the City on Monday, July 21, a contract that called for less benefits than a City contract offer rejected earlier by the union membership. The A.P.O.A. felt that an agreement was needed after ten days of a strike. Since the 1975 contract agreement, representatives of the City and the union now deal with each other honestly and openly when trying to solve problems that arise instead of both sides assuming adversary roles. After a compromise was reached whereby the seven sergeants would be demoted for 120 days and then be reevaluated by the Chief of Police to determine if they would be promoted to sergeants again, the union representing the police, the Albuquerque Police Officers Association

Degree Name

Economics

Level of Degree

Masters

Department Name

Department of Economics

First Committee Member (Chair)

Sanford Cohen

Second Committee Member

Peter Gregory

Third Committee Member

David Boyce Hamilton Jr.

Language

English

Document Type

Thesis

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