Bill Would Grant Public Safety Officers Collective Bargaining Rights

Senators Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Edward Kennedy (D-MA) have reintroduced a bill that would provide firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical personnel with collective bargaining rights in states and localities that do not currently provide them. The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act (S. 1611) would establish minimum standards for collective bargaining rights for public safety officers, and give the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) the power to regulate and enforce these rights. The House of Representatives introduced companion legislation (H.R. 413) on January 9 of this year.

The minimum collective bargaining rights established by this bill include the following:

• The right to form and join a labor organization, which may exclude management employees, supervisory employees, and confidential employees;
• The requirement that public safety employers recognize and agree to bargain with the employees’ labor organization;
• The right to bargain over hours, wages, and terms and conditions of employment;
• The availability of a dispute resolution mechanism, such as fact-finding, mediation, arbitration, or comparable procedures.

The FLRA would have the authority to determine whether a state’s collective bargaining arrangements meet the above standards. In addition, the FLRA would have the power to, among other things, determine the appropriateness of the bargaining units, conduct hearings to resolve disputes involving unfair labor practices, and supervise and conduct elections.

This bill does not preempt any state or local law with respect to strikes by public safety officers, and specifically prohibits lockouts, strikes, or other organized actions that would measurably disrupt emergency services and/or compel employers to agree with particular contract terms. Additionally, this legislation would not preempt state enforcement of right-to-work laws, nor would it infringe on existing state laws that meet the minimum standards or collective bargaining agreements already in place. The bill would allow states to exempt from coverage political subdivisions with fewer than 5,000 people or those that employ fewer than 25 full-time employees.

This bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.