On February 20, 1979, George Meany, the legendary President of the AFL-CIO, announced at a press conference in Bal Harbour, Florida (site of the AFL-CIO’s biennial meeting), that the International Union of Police Associations (I.U.P.A.) had been granted an AFL-CIO charter. For the first time ever, law enforcement would have their own independent voice within organized labor. A partnership with extraordinary potential for improving and enhancing the working and personal lives of police professionals across the country had been forged.

The story of the I.U.P.A. goes back to 1954 and the founding of the National Conference of Police Associations (N.C.P.A.). Royce Givens, of Washington, D.C., was elected the N.C.P.A.’s Executive Secretary, by-laws and charter were developed, and a national law enforcement organization was born.

The N.C.P.A.’s birth came in response to what was then perceived as a rapidly changing political and professional environment. With the demands of the profession changing so quickly, especially in the areas of collective bargaining and benefits, it was becoming equally apparent that the profession was in need of the support and services that only the AFL-CIO, the world's largest and most influential labor organization, could provide. As such, a number of police associations attempted to affiliate with the AFL-CIO, including the New York City Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (P.B.A.), then headed by John Cassesse. As happened to each of the other applicants, the New York City P.B.A. was rejected by the AFL-CIO because it did not represent a national cross section of law enforcement officers.

In order for a union to be granted an affiliation it must show it has a broad, national base. Its membership must represent and include all geographic regions of the nation. Naturally, the New York City P.B.A. could not meet that criteria. In 1966, the N.C.P.A. amended its by-laws, welcomed a number of local Canadian police associations on board, and changed its name to the International Conference of Police Associations. In theory, the International Conference of Police Association (I.C.P.A.) could meet the geographical requirements of affiliation with the AFL-CIO. President Cassesse had resigned and his position had been assumed by Ed Kiernan, a veteran street cop and Cassesse’s long-time second in command. Kiernan took up the campaign to secure affiliation for the I.C.P.A. with the AFL-CIO. It was a battle that was to last for six years.

While Kiernan pursued affiliation with the AFL-CIO, he also accomplished other goals. Most notably, under Kiernan’s leadership, the I.C.P.A. was the driving force in a four year battle for a federal death benefit for law enforcement officers. From 1972 to 1976, the I.C.P.A. worked at building the necessary support and coalitions that could make that benefit a reality. The I.C.P.A. took the death benefit issue on as its top priority and, in 1976, succeeded. For the first time ever, all law enforcement officers’ families became entitled to a $50,000 death benefit if the officer lost his or her life in the line-of-duty and on a federal case (which, under the law, covers almost every circumstance and now provides over $130,000 in benefits).

Moreover, during the Kiernan period, the I.C.P.A. demonstrated its substantial clout on more than one occasion. For instance, when the I.C.P.A. local in Memphis, Tennessee went out on strike, other public employee unions both supported the strike and were ready to honor the picket lines; despite the fact that the I.C.P.A. was not, at the time, affiliated with the AFL-CIO. Through the respect the I.C.P.A. had earned and the support it was able to gain for its position and actions, the strike in Memphis was quickly settled. The AFL-CIO leadership, in turn, recognized I.C.P.A.’s abilities and, impressed with I.C.P.A.’s national presence and the breadth of its growing membership, had given the association clear indications that should I.C.P.A. choose to request it, affiliation would almost certainly be granted by the AFL-CIO.

On July 10, 1978, the I.C.P.A. gathered in Toronto, Canada for its annual meeting. Delegates from all across North America were in attendance. The Toronto meeting was the site of a battle between pro and anti-affiliation forces. Finally, on a vote of 62 to 61, the convention voted to hold a constitutional convention (which had to precede affiliation) in Washington, D.C. immediately after Labor Day.

Even that final 62-61 vote was not without controversy. The original vote was challenged by the opponents of affiliation. It thus fell to I.C.P.A. President Ed Kiernan, long one of the leading proponents of affiliation, to cast the deciding vote. Kiernan got the chance to push the issue over the top and it was on to Washington for the constitutional convention. Yet, the opponents of affiliation continued to express their unwillingness to see the I.C.P.A. go down the path of AFL-CIO affiliation.

Between the July Annual Convention and the Constitutional Convention in September, Kiernan and the I.C.P.A.'s Secretary/Treasurer Bob Gordon officially informed AFL-CIO President George Meany that the I.C.P.A. had voted to seek affiliation. Within a week, the I.C.P.A. was notified that its application had been accepted and that Meany had appointed a three-man team to evaluate the I.C.P.A. prior to a final vote by the AFL-CIO Executive Board.

However, given that the pursuit of AFL-CIO affiliation was dividing the I.C.P.A., the pro-affiliation group, Kiernan, Secretary/Treasurer Bob Gordon and the 22 Vice Presidents, had resigned from the association. They voted to create the International Union of Police Associations (I.U.P.A.) and to seek immediate affiliation with the AFL-CIO. Kiernan was elected President of the I.U.P.A. (and Gordon as Secretary/Treasurer), an office was opened in Washington, D.C. and the I.U.P.A. was in business.

Two months later, in February of 1979, George Meany announced in Florida that the AFL-CIO Executive Board had voted to accept the I.U.P.A. as a fully affiliated union of the AFL-CIO. For the first time, the nation’s law enforcement professionals had their own, independent, International, AFL-CIO-affiliated union. Like their brothers and sisters in the fire fighting union, America’s cops now had a union that spoke for them, only them, and could provide the kind of leadership, guidance and services that only a true union can offer.

So, I.U.P.A was found in 1978 and affiliated with the AFL-CIO in 1979. Of the heroes of these early years, Secretary/Treasurer, Dave Baker, elected in 1982, is well remembered for his responsible fiscal policies. President Ed Kiernan, who had led the sucessful fight to affiliation, retired in 1983. At this time, the innovative Bob Kliesmet was elected president. He would serve until December 1995.

With Kliesmet as President and the election of Sam Cabral as Vice President in 1988, the I.U.P.A. modestly and deliberately expanded its horizons. A second office was opened on the West Coast and the union’s first organizers were brought on board. The I.U.P.A. hired special legal counsel, Mike Leibig, to help deal with the plethora of issues facing the profession on both the legislative and bargaining sides. The union hired a Research Director whose annual analysis of wage and benefits across the nation became a crucial and heavily-relied upon tool in the collective bargaining process. The I.U.P.A. was growing and expanding and becoming a national, political force. The union was in need of full-time Executive Officers living and working in the nation’s capital. In 1990, Cabral was elected as full-time Secretary-Treasurer and moved to Washington. Art Reddy was elected Vice President and Legislative Liaison.

The I.U.P.A. grew from 16,890 members in 1990 to a membership of more than 80,000 in 1997. Sam Cabral assumed the position of President in 1995 and Art Reddy as the Vice President and Legislative Liaison. In 1996, at the I.U.P.A. biennial convention, Cabral was re-elected President, Reddy was re-elected Vice-President and Legislative Liaison, and Rich Estes as the Secretary-Treasurer. The new leadership has focused on providing the law enforcement community with improved working conditions, wages and benefits through legislative initiatives and member benefits.

Cabral created the Full Service Legal Program which provides members with representation in matters related to grievance and disciplinary hearings, collective bargaining, job security and contract administration. Cabral has made organizing a priority and has been successful in bringing more than 8,000 law enforcement officers from Puerto Rico into the I.U.P.A.

The I.U.P.A. aids in drafting legislation that impact the lives of it’s membership — initiatives such as the National Police Officers Bill of Rights, FLSA for law enforcement, educational survivor benefits and armor vest grants. Reddy is continually contacted by Congressional Staff, the White House and the Justice Department for input on matters that effect the membership of I.U.P.A. Reddy instituted the publication of a monthly legislative newsletter, the Washington Update, which detailed legislative proposals and laws that effect the law enforcement community. Recently, the Washington Update has become a featured section within the I.U.P.A. newsletter, Police Union News.

The I.U.P.A. has become one of the most influential voices for law enforcement in the political arena. The I.U.P.A. played the pivotal role in the passage of amendments that made the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), one of the most important labor laws ever passed, applicable to law enforcement. In 1986, Congress passed a series of amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act which forever changed American policing. No longer could law enforcement officers be required to work more than eight hours a day or 40 hours a week; and no longer did local unions and associations have to collectively bargain to ensure that overtime was paid at time and a half. Under the FLSA changes, overtime is required to be paid at time and a half. The passage of the FLSA demonstrated, clearly and unequivocally, the great value of an independent, law enforcement, AFL-CIO-affiliated union.

The new leadership believe that information technology is an important part of an effective union and have updated the I.U.P.A. computer systems, created the I.U.P.A. webpage, equipped the office with electronic mail and Internet service. The organizers and business agents are provided computer systems and electronic media to respond to and keep in touch with locals and potential members.

The Research Director designs wage and benefit surveys to meet the specific needs of the locals and is available to provide members a wide range of research topics, ranging from equipment to retirement to health and safety issues. The Research Department responds to social, economic, or political research requests with pertinent and timely materials.

Unlike many unions, the I.U.P.A. voluntarily complies with the Department of Labor’s Management Reporting Act, thus keeping all of its finances and operations in full view and above board. The I.U.P.A. continues to work to improve the lives and working conditions of law enforcement officers and their families through research, political, legal and new benefit initiatives. Today, the IUPA is the only union exclusively designed for law enforcement personnel. Executive Officers and staff work full-time on issues that impact the law enforcement community and the I.U.P.A. membership. Most importantly, the I.U.P.A.’s success in recent years has finally established the union as what it was always intended to be: the principal voice of and advocate for America's law enforcement personnel.