A blue flu is a type of strike action undertaken by police officers in which a large number simultaneously use sick leave. A blue flu is a preferred strike action by police in some parts of the United States where police strikes are prohibited by law. At times, the matter goes to court, such as when officers need to undergo medical examination to prove genuine illness. A 2019 opinion piece in The New York Times contrasted blue flu with a strike, calling it "a quiet form of protest, with no stated principles or claim for public attention or sympathy." Unlike most strikes, blue flu tends to be focused and of short duration.
History
The term itself and similar terms have been used where unions could be heavily penalized. Alternatives to these terms include "slowdown" and "virtual work stoppage." In the United States, one of the first cases of what was then legal, a strike by police officers, was stopped in 1919 by then-Governor Calvin Coolidge using the state's militia. President Ronald Reagan fired 11,345 air traffic controllers in 1981 in response to a strike. During the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, the blue flu was a ubiquitous and highly effective tactic in Baltimore, Memphis, San Francisco, Cleveland, New Orleans, Chicago, Newark, New York and many other cities. Between January 14 and January 19, 1971, around 20,000 New York City police officers refused to report for regular duty partly in response to dismissal of a lawsuit that would have increased pay for both police and fire fighters, and entitle them to back pay up to the point of their last negotiated contract. From December 23 to December 24, 1981, officers of the 1700-man Milwaukee Police Departmentabandoned their posts, citing disregard they claimed city officials showed for the police. From June 17 to 20, 2020, about 170 officers of the Atlanta Police Department staged a sick-out to protest the criminal charges brought against the officers involved in the killing of Rayshard Brooks.
Reasons
Three of the common reasons for these actions are:
discipline actions that they feel are unjust, such as in 2011, when NYC reduced numerous police officers' vacation days by ten when tickets they had issued were tossed as being incomplete. The police blamed the situation on having to fill out a form while amidst confronting the person being ticketed. Technology solved much of this by having scanners reduce the amount of information that had to be recorded manually.
deadlocked contract talks, or frustration due to extended periods of working without a contract. These are sometimes made worse when mixed with ongoing budget cutbacks.
work conditions perceived as unsafe.
Sometimes the proclaimed reason masks something else, such as when enforcing an unpopular decision is claimed to be a contract violation.
