Above photo: NYPD officers. Getty Images.
Give the city its “independence.”
A labor strike is brewing in the NYPD.
A pair of flyers making the rounds among NYPD officers are encouraging them to call out sick July 4 — as retribution for police reform and a perceived anti-cop climate following the outrage over high-profile police killings of unarmed black men across the country, multiple cops told The Post.
One message calls for the strike to kick off at 3 p.m. July 4.
“NYPD cops will strike on July 4th to let the city have their independence without cops,” the message, which is being passed among cops via text, according to sources.
“Cops that say we can’t strike because of the Taylor Law,” the message reads, referencing a law that makes public worker stoppages punishable with fines and jail time. “The people and this city doesn’t [sic] honor us why honor them [sic].”
It’s unclear whether the messages are being written by other police officers.
Another message seen by police officers reads #Bluflu and instructs cops to call out sick on Independence Day.
“Police officers like you and me took an oath to protect strangers regardless of race, class or gender,” the message reads. “Today we are vilified and must stand as one.”
It then gives instructions for a sickout, telling members to call their precinct and request a sick day. If they are denied, the message instructs them to call the main NYPD sick desk.
If that doesn’t work, officers are instructed to report for duty — then ask for an ambulance so they can go home sick.
“If you are held because of the #Bluflu, request a bus and go sick from command,” the flyer reads.
PBA president Patrick Lynch said the “blue flu” has been a joke for generations, but “the situation we are in right now is no joke” and NYC cops “have reached the breaking point.”
“Over the past few weeks, we have been attacked in the streets, demonized in the media and denigrated by practically every politician in this city,” Lynch said.
“Now we are facing the possibility of being arrested any time we go out to do our job.”
The NYPD responded that police will be at work on July 4, as always.
“New York City Police Officers will be here today, tomorrow, and on the 4th of July to protect all New Yorkers,” said Sgt. Mary Frances O’Donnell, spokesperson for the department’s deputy commissioner for public information.
“To suggest otherwise is false.”