Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the City of New York

The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the City of New York is the largest labor union representing police officers of the New York City Police Department. [http://www.nypost.com/seven/06022007/news/regionalnews/pba_sues_to_boot_9_11_air_victim_regionalnews_david_seifman.htm]

Several representatives of the Association sit on the board of the New York City Police Pension Fund. [http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycppf/html/boardoftrust.html]

Rescue and recovery work at the World Trade Center

Many officers perished at the Twin Towers during the September 11, 2001 attacks in Lower Manhattan. Scores more were exposed to toxins --produced by the collapse of the Twin Towers-- in the course of their work-shifts during the Rescue and recovery effort after the September 11, 2001 attacks at Ground Zero.

Surviving first responders and their advocates are asserting that their illnesses have resulted from exposure to toxins at Ground Zero. The Patrolmen's Benevolent Association of the City of New York (PBA) filed a lawsuit to secure benefits for Officer Christopher Hynes, 36. (In March 2004 he was diagnosed as having sarcoidosis. However, the NYPD has refused to bestow line-of-duty injury status to him. Hynes had worked for 111 hours at Ground Zero and its vicinity. He claims that he was never given a proper respirator for his work at Ground Zero. He has had difficulty in paying medical bills because of the denial of line-of-duty status.) The PBA noted that firefighters, by contrast, have been given line-of-duty status for their injuries. [David Seifman, "PBA Sues to Boost 9/11 Air Victim," "New York Post," June 2, 2007 or http://www.nypost.com/seven/06022007/news/regionalnews/pba_sues_to_boot_9_11_air_victim_regionalnews_david_seifman.htm] [ "Police Union Sues City Seeking Compensation For 9/11 Responder", ny1.com, June 1, 2007 or http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=6&aid=70319]

Relations with mayor Giuliani

PBA Relations with mayor Rudy Giuliani (mayoralty, 1994-2001) were marked by years of labor disputes. The PBA urged members to resist the mayor's incentive pay initiative in 1998. ["The New York Times" April 15, 1998 "P.B.A. Urges Officers to Refuse Giuliani's Incentive Raises" http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E4DB163CF936A25757C0A96E958260] Additionally, in a five-year contract, officers were subject to a two-year freeze on salaries before seeing salaries increased 13 percent during the last years of the Giuliani tenure. [Joshua Rhett Miller, "Cop Union Blasts Rudy: No '08 Endorsement from the Finest, Boss Says." "Metro New York" edition of "Metro" paper, November 13, 2007, p. 1]

During November, 2007, in anticipation of the 2008 presidential election, PBA president Patrick Lynch criticized the relationship between mayor Giuliani and the NYPD. He said that the union would not endorse Giuliani. He criticized the mayor on pay issues, saying, "The inability to keep veteran cops on the job or to recruit adequate numbers of new ones can be traced directly back to the Giuliani mayoralty." He added, "While the city was rolling in money, the Giuliani administration cried future poverty and stuck New York police officers with three and half years without a pay raise." [Joshua Rhett Miller, "Cop Union Blasts Rudy: No '08 Endorsement from the Finest, Boss Says." "Metro New York" edition of "Metro" paper, November 13, 2007, p. 1] Lynch further asserted that "Rudy Giuliani has no real credentials as a terrorism fighter." [Carl Campanile, "COP RUNNETH OVER: PBA BIG HAMMERS RUDY AS SKINFLINT ON CRIME & TERROR" "New York Post" November 12, 2007 http://www.nypost.com/seven/11122007/news/regionalnews/cop_runneth_over_962234.htm]

References

External links

* [http://www.nycpba.org/ New York City Police Benevolent Association]

ee also

* Health effects arising from the September 11, 2001 attacks
* Rescue and recovery effort after the September 11, 2001 attacks