Such an outbreak has been dubbed a "blue flu" — in reference to the blue shirts that TSA agents wear.
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I've heard officers ponder the notion of a sudden onset of "blue flu," where many of them suddenly call in "sick" at the same time.
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One called it the "blue flu," a reference to the blue shirts worn by transportation security officers who screen passengers and baggage at airport security checkpoints.
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One federal official dubbed it a "blue flu," nodding to the blue shirts worn by TSA officers, while union officials say officers can't afford to work unpaid.
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In contrast to a strike, blue flu — a condition that has also been known to afflict police officers — is a quiet form of protest, with no stated principles or claim for public attention or sympathy.
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The last time Ireland's police force took similar action, nearly two decades ago, they did so by calling in sick for a day, a so-called "blue flu", as the near 13,000-strong force is barred from striking under Irish law.
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In a wave of what one federal official has dubbed as the "blue flu"-- a nod to the blue shirts worn by TSA officers -- hundreds of TSA screeners at at least four major airports have called out from their shifts since the shutdown began in December.
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In "Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu", a novel based on the TV series Monk, the main character is given a chance to return to his city's police force during a labor dispute. It's distasteful to him that "he'll be a 'scab'." A blue flu strike was also a background premise to The Party's Over, a season 5 episode of CSI NY, aired in 2009.
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Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu is the third novel by writer Lee Goldberg based on the television series Monk. Like the previous two books, the book is narrated by Natalie Teeger, Monk's assistant.
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"Mr. Monk and the Badge" is the 14th episode of season 8, and was based on Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu, in much the same way that the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing" was based on the novel Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse. This is the last time Tony Shalhoub's wife makes an appearance on the show.
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During the first few novels, Julie's role is minimal, but she occasionally, knowingly or not, gives Monk crucial information that is key to solving a murder case. In Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse, when a firehouse dog named Sparky is murdered, Julie hires Monk to investigate pro bono. Monk feels obliged to help Julie out, unable to see her crying. In Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu, Julie's attention to brands and fashion designs gives Monk a crucial clue to the Golden Gate Strangler's profile.
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A "sickout", or (especially by uniformed police officers) "blue flu", is a type of strike action in which the strikers call in sick. This is used in cases where laws prohibit certain employees from declaring a strike. Police, firefighters, air traffic controllers, and teachers in some U.S. states are among the groups commonly barred from striking usually by state and federal laws meant to ensure the safety or security of the general public. Newspaper writers may withhold their names from their stories as a way to protest actions of their employer.
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That night, Natalie is proud of Monk for having his badge back and keeping the SFPD running efficiently even with the number of officers "suffering" from the Blue Flu. Monk laments that these are much simpler murders, ones Captain Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Disher solve every day. Afterwards, they take Julie for a short ride in the patrol car, and also "imprison" Julie in the holding cell at the police station. When they arrive, Curtis says that Natalie's Jeep is out in the impound lot, and also informs her that Officer Krupp would appreciate the return of his patrol car.
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On June 13, Atlanta's police chief Erika Shields resigned; Mayor Bottoms said Shields had resigned in the hope that "the city may move forward with urgency and [rebuild] the trust so desperately needed throughout our communities." On June 15, Mayor Bottoms ordered the Atlanta Police Department to overhaul its use-of-force policies. Beginning the day after charges against Rolfe were announced, Atlanta police officers called in sick for their shifts, staging a "blue flu" protest. In the four days from June 17 to 20, about 170 officers called in sick and officers in 3 out of the city's 6 police zones did not respond to calls.
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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.
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In the book, Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu, Stottlemeyer, in a covert meeting with Monk and Natalie, reveals that Randy has a high clearance and conviction rate. While teaching Monk how to be a Captain and delegate, he tells them how Randy is a people person, who gets people to say things they wouldn't have said otherwise. They aren't high profile or unusual like the cases Monk gets, but it is how Stottlemeyer delegates cases. The implication is that Stottlemeyer is a good captain for matching staff to cases, and Disher, while incapable of solving a weird case, is good at others, which is his gift.
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He explains that although it's illegal for police officers to strike, there is a strain of the flu going around. Monk initially thinks that it's a disease until Stottlemeyer explains that it's called the Blue Flu, where the police officers call in "sick" until they get a better contract. The next day, 70% of the detectives' bureau of the San Francisco Police Department calls in sick. Natalie goes out shopping to buy new clothes for Julie, but after a pregnant woman takes a blouse Natalie wanted, Monk exposes the pregnant woman, a man with an oxygen tank, and a nun in the department store as a set of shoplifters.
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Some jurisdictions prohibit all strikes by public employees, under laws such as the "Taylor Law" in New York. Other jurisdictions impose strike bans only on certain categories of workers, particularly those regarded as critical to society: police, teachers and firefighters are among the groups commonly barred from striking in these jurisdictions. Some states, such as New Jersey, Michigan, Iowa or Florida, do not allow teachers in public schools to strike. Workers have sometimes circumvented these restrictions by falsely claiming inability to work due to illness – this is sometimes called a "sickout" or "blue flu", the latter receiving its name from the uniforms worn by police officers, who are traditionally prohibited from striking.
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The 1971 NYPD Work Stoppage occurred for five days between January 14 and January 19, 1971, when around 20,000 New York City police officers refused to report for regular duty. While officers maintained that they would continue to respond to serious crimes and emergencies, they refused to carry out routine patrolling duties, leading in some cases, to as few as 200 officers being on the street in the city. The police called in sick, a form of strike action known as blue flu, in this case circumventing Article 14 of the New York State Civil Service Law, aka the Taylor Law, which legally prevented police officers from striking. The stoppage was partly a response to a lawsuit by the Sergeants Benevolent Association being struck down in court.
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When he arrives, he is taken hostage and held along with Adam by Irish mobsters who hope to use the situation to distract the NYPD while others of their clan break into the lab to retrieve a huge cocaine seizure from earlier in the day. Danny is badly beaten during his captivity (taking a total of 4 blows to the head, one to the spine and having his left hand broken), but with Adam's help, manages to take down their captors in time to be rescued by the officers gathered outside. In The Party's Over, Danny backs out of a crime scene, claiming to be sick, and goes on a strike of sorts, or blue flu, due to pay issues within the NYPD and the crime lab. When Stella Bonasera arrives at his apartment to confront him, she reluctantly agrees that she sees where he's coming from.
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