FEDERALIZED COLLECTIVE BARGAINING?
On July 17, the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 980, the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007. The provisions of H.R. 980 would essentially federalize state and local government labor-management relations by granting collective bargaining rights to all state and local public safety officers (law enforcement officers, firefighters, and emergency medical services personnel).
Specifically, the bill would require that the Federal Labor Relations Authority, within 180 of the bill’s enactment, determine whether each state’s laws substantially do the following:
- grant public safety officers the right to form and join a labor organization that is, or seeks to be, recognized as the exclusive bargaining representative of such employees;
- require public safety employers to recognize the officers’ labor organization, agree to bargaining with the organization, and commit any agreements to writing;
- provide for bargaining over hours, wages, and terms and conditions of employment;
- require an employer to provide for an impasse resolution mechanism such as fact-finding, mediation, arbitration, or comparable procedures; and
- require that a state’s courts enforce these requirements.
If any state law fails to substantially meet these requirements, the state would be subject to the requirements of the bill – federalized collective bargaining – within two years of the bill’s enactment, even if the state currently has some collective bargaining procedures in place.
H.R. 980 mandates a “one-size fits all” approach to labor-management relations, which ignores the fact that state and local governments are in the best position to determine the nature and extent of collective bargaining rights. Texas law already provides for voter-approved collective bargaining procedures, and H.R. 980 would deprive state and local governments (and the voters) of local control and the flexibility to manage public safety operations in a manner they choose.
H.R. 980 is a costly unfunded mandate that will harm state and local public safety agencies by forcing them to divert their limited resources from protecting the public to the administration of federal collective bargaining.
While the bill has passed the U.S. House, it has not yet been considered by the U.S. Senate. City officials are urged to write to our U.S. Senators and express their opposition to H.R. 980.
| SENATOR KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON | SENATOR JOHN CORNYN |
284 Russell Senate Office Building |
517 Hart Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC 20510 Tel: 202-224-2934 Fax: 202-228-2856 |