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AFSCME commits to landmark policing and criminal justice reforms

Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
AFSCME commits to landmark policing and criminal justice reforms
By AFSCME Staff ·

Delegates to the AFSCME 44th International Convention adopted a landmark resolution that reaffirms our union’s support for collective bargaining and due process rights for public safety officers and advocates a range of reforms aimed at combating racism.

Delegates constitute the highest governance body within the union, which represents approximately 90,000 law enforcement and public safety officers.

“AFSCME’s storied history of fighting for civil rights and economic justice continues with this big step forward to combat racism while protecting the rights and freedoms of all working people – including law enforcement and public safety officers – to join a union and gain the due process rights that come with it,” AFSCME President Lee Saunders said in a press release.

Among the key reforms in the resolution:

The resolution, which was adopted Thursday, builds on AFSCME’s work to achieve racial justice while shoring up public safety. Those efforts include a resolution the union adopted at its 2016 convention to bridge the gap between the public safety officers and the communities in which they live and work.

Delegates in this year’s convention also passed a resolution on racial justice that recommits the union to confronting and rooting out systemic racism.

“We look forward to working with leaders and employers across the country to implement these reforms to heal our communities, prevent violence against Black Americans and ensure that the memory of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and so many more lives on,” Saunders said.

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