Nearly all employees of the Rochester Police Accountability Board have agreed to unionize, arguing that the agency’s top leaders have caused months of internal dysfunction and confusion.
The employees announced their intention to unionize through Workers United of Western New York during a news conference Thursday. The agency staff serves and reports to a nine-member board and on Oct. 6, 17 employees signed on to a letter, which CITY obtained last week, informing the board members of their intent to form a union.
The move by the staff members to unionize comes after a string of resignations and firings at the agency. Its headcount is 30 at present, a figure that includes suspended Executive Director Conor Dwyer Reynolds. In May, the agency had 38 employees.
“While the agency has been thrust into an era of confusion and disorder under the direction of the current acting manager, we have organized to defend the mission set by an overwhelming majority of Rochester voters in 2019 to investigate cases of police misconduct, and to evaluate current RPD policies and practices,” Brandy Cooper, an accountability inspector at the PAB, said during a news conference Thursday.
The PAB has been in turmoil for the past two weeks, with past employees and top staff members publicly trading various accusations.
City Council initiated an investigation into personnel matters at the PAB in May after Reynolds was placed on leave. City Council President Miguel Melendez said last week that he expects that investigation to come to a close by the end of October.
Bascoe, in a statement, said he supports the unionization effort.
“The labor movement in Rochester has a deep and rich history. A history that our staff is now a part of,” Bascoe said. “Leadership at the PAB is in full support of their unionization efforts so we can all continue the work the people of Rochester have asked us to do.”
Gary Bonadonna of Workers United said that PAB workers forming a union will ensure that the agency can pursue its mission.
“I’m extremely proud to stand alongside these workers and their fight to better serve their community,” Bonadonna said. “We believe organizing a union, that will help them do their jobs to the fullest.”
The union still requires recognition by Mayor Malik Evans. Cooper said a dialogue between workers and Evans has yet to be sparked.
The union has also received support by most major stakeholders, including the Police Accountability Board Alliance and Larry Knox, the chair of the Police Accountability Board and labor organizer.
“I fully support the efforts of agency staff to organize and join the call for the City to voluntarily recognize their union,” Knox said, in a statement. “A unionized workplace is a better workplace.”
Gino Fanelli is a CITY staff writer.