Elise Takahama
Seattle Times
SEATTLE — The county’s largest labor council voted Wednesday evening to expel the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) from the organization, a decision pushed for by many protesters who have been demonstrating against police brutality and racism in recent weeks.
In an hours-long roll call vote, 45,435 of the Martin Luther King, Jr. County Labor Council delegates voted in favor of passing a motion approved May 20 by the executive board, effectively removing the Seattle Police Officers Guild from the council — while 36,760 of the delegates voted against.
“It’s our responsibility to fight for all forms of justice,” MLK Labor Executive Secretary-Treasurer Nicole Grant said in a statement. “In the Martin Luther King County Labor Council, we believe that there can be no justice without racial justice. Any union that is part of our labor council needs to be actively working to dismantle racism in their institution and society at large. Unfortunately, the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild has failed to do that work and are no longer welcome in our council.”
During the meeting, some delegates who spoke against removing SPOG said they were concerned about isolating the police union and preferred to keep them engaged in working toward a solution.
Karlena Allbery from IBEW 46 said she thinks unions are “stronger together.”
“Why are we engaged in union-busting from within?… We need them at the table, we can talk with them, discuss with them, so then we can hold them accountable,” she said. “Again, it’s not an overall … ‘only police are racist.’ We’re all fighting this.”
Before the vote, SPOG President Mike Solan told delegates the police union wanted to stay involved with the council and is “willing to learn.”
“We are human beings and we are workers who are committed to this city and committed to the community … We understand that we’ve probably taken more from the council than we actually have given and what that does is illustrate that we’re professionals and we’re willing to learn,” Solan said. “We see a future, one that engages in these robust conversations, and in particular to race and how the institution of racism impacts all labor unions.”
He continued: “We seek to partner with the labor council and wish to continue to have these conversations so as a society we can build our community with trust, because ultimately the police work for the community.”
The council first threatened to remove SPOG on June 4 unless, it said, the union admitted racism is a problem in law enforcement and agreed to address that problem in negotiating its next contract with the city.
A resolution passed by the group’s executive board June 4 attributes policing problems to systemic racism rather than “bad apples” and calls on SPOG to acknowledge that — or else.
The union was also required to participate in a community effort “dedicated to promoting safety within our community and within law enforcement by addressing racism within SPOG … and ensuring that contracts do not evade legitimate accountability when professional standards are not followed,” the resolution said.
The Board gave SPOG until Wednesday, June 17 to take these actions or said the delegate body would vote on whether to remove them from the council.
During the Wednesday meeting, several delegates mentioned two open letters SPOG recently published — one to the city of Seattle and one to Mayor Jenny Durkan.
In the first letter, the union stated its members were “shocked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.”
“This incident is in complete opposition to everything we stand for, and everything we are trained to do,” it said. “There is no law enforcement or self-defense rationale for the prolonged use of the officer’s knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck … Although what was depicted in that video does not represent who we are as law enforcement professionals, we know it has diminished the trust and respect of officers nationwide.”
The letter went on to promise the Seattle Police Department will train, and seek training, to safely manage similar situations and vowed to repair any trust that’s been lost.
“Our officers will continue to demonstrate our utmost professionalism and genuine caring for the people of this city on every contact they have with a citizen,” it said.
A few days later, Solan published the letter to Durkan, telling her that he feared the “daily peaceful protests are unfortunately being stolen at night by a group of criminal agitators who continue to attempt to provoke police.”
On Wednesday evening, delegates pointed to the letters while disagreeing over whether or not SPOG met the terms requested.
One delegate said SPOG admitted to seeing the structural racism within society in its statements, but not within its police department. Another said he didn’t think the union fully proved it was committed to becoming an antiracist organization. And another wanted the union to accept more responsibility for its officers’ actions during the recent protests.
At the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, crowds celebrated after hearing the final vote. “We accomplished something big here today, guys,” one speaker shouted to protesters by Cal Anderson Park. “Our movement just got another win. SPOG’s out of the labor council. That’s one step in being able to hold them accountable … But there’s still more work to do.”