Summary
On May 13, 2008, the Senate
is expected to begin consideration of H.R. 980/S. 2123, the Public
Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007, which would guarantee
public safety officers' collective bargaining rights in all fifty states and
the District of Columbia, while avoiding any disruptions to public safety by
prohibiting employer lockouts and employee strikes. This legislation
would provide a framework for enhancing the collective bargaining rights of
America's first responders, but would allow states to continue to draft laws
that are tailor-made to their local needs. H.R. 980/S. 2123 would
neither interfere with states that already provide adequate collective
bargaining rights for first responders nor prohibit the enforcement of state
right-to-work laws.
Major Provisions
Definitions. H.R
980/S. 2123 would define: "Authority"
as the Federal Labor Relations Authority; "public safety officer" to include an
individual who is temporarily, not permanently, transferred to a supervisory or
management position. The bill also provides other key definitions.
Determination of Rights and Responsibilities. H.R. 980/S. 2123 would require States, the District of Columbia, and territories to
"substantially provide" for the following collective bargaining rights and
responsibilities:
- granting the right of public safety officers to
form and join a labor organization;
- requiring a public safety employer to recognize
and agree to bargain with employees' -- freely and majority chosen --
labor organization;
- providing for bargaining over hours, wages, and
the terms and conditions of employment;
- providing a means to resolve impasses, including
fact-finding, mediation, and arbitration; and
- permitting enforcement of these rights,
responsibilities, and protections and any written contract or memorandum
of understanding through State courts.
No
later than one year after enactment, the Federal Labor Relations Authority ("Authority")
must issue regulations establishing procedures by which states can meet these
requirements.
H.R. 980/S. 2123 would require
the Authority to determine within 180 days whether a state has met these
requirements. The Authority could consider the opinion of affected employers
and labor organizations, and an agreement by both parties that the applicable
law is sufficient would be give maximum weight.
The
Authority's determination would remain in effect until an employer or labor
organization requests a subsequent determination on the basis of a material
change in state law or its interpretation has occurred, the Authority agrees a
material change has occurred, and the Authority issues a subsequent
determination within 30 days of the request
H.R. 980/S. 2123 would provide
for judicial review, in the U.S. Court of Appeals, of a determination within 60
days of the Authority's decision.
Role of Authority. H.R
980/S. 2123 would subjects states
not in compliance with the law will be subject to the following regulations and
procedures (effective two years after the date of enactment):
- H.R. 980/S. 2123 would
permit the Authority to petition the U.S. Court of Appeals to enforce any
final orders or to gain temporary relief or a restraining order; and
- H.R. 980/S. 2123 would, in
absence of a petition by the Authority in the U.S. Court of Appeals, establish
a private right of action, which would permit any interested party to sue,
in U.S. District Court, any political subdivision of the state or, if the
state has waived sovereign immunity, the state itself to enforce
compliance with an Authority order or the prohibition on strikes and
lockouts.
H.R. 980/S. 2123 would authorize the Authority to determine the appropriateness of units
for labor organization representation; supervise and conduct elections to
determine whether a labor organization has been selected as an exclusive
representative by a voting majority of the employees; resolve issues relating
to the duty to bargain in good faith; conduct hearings and resolve complaints
of unfair labor practices; resolve exceptions to the awards of arbitrators; protect
the right of each employee to form, join, or assist any labor organization or
to refrain from such activities without fear of penalty; direct compliance of a
state that is not in compliance with the regulations; and to take necessary and
appropriate actions, including issuing subpoenas, administering oaths, taking
depositions, ordering responses to written interrogatories, and receiving and
examining witnesses, to effectively administer the law.
Strikes and Lockouts. H.R.
980/S. 2123 would expressly prohibit strikes and work slowdowns by public
safety officers or labor unions or lockouts by public safety employers. In
addition to strikes and lockouts, the legislation would ban any other action
that will measurably disrupt the delivery of emergency services. It would not,
however, be a violation to refuse to carry out services not required under the
mandatory terms and conditions of employment.
Existing Collective Bargaining Units and Agreements. H.R. 980/S. 2123 would not invalidate existing collective bargaining units and agreements
which have been issued, approved, or ratified by any public employee relations
board or commission or by any state or state political subdivision.
Construction, Compliance and Enforcement. H.R. 980/S. 2123 would not:
- Pre-empt or limit state laws that provide
greater or comparable collective bargaining rights and responsibilities;
- Require a state to rescind or pre-empt laws or
ordinances of any of its political subdivisions if those laws provide
greater or comparable collective bargaining rights and responsibilities;
- Prevent state right-to-work laws, which ban
contracts that require union membership or payment of union fees as a
condition of employment;
- Permit parties subject to the National Labor
Relations Act to negotiate provisions that would prohibit an employee
from engaging in part-time employment or volunteer activities during
off-duty hours; or
- Preempt a state law that substantially provides
for collective bargaining rights and responsibilities for public safety officers
solely because the state law:
- permits an employee to appear in his her own behalf with respect
to his or her employment relations;
- excludes coverage of employees of a state militia or the national
guard;
- excludes categories of employees covered by this Act, in which
case the Authority will only exercise its powers with respect to the
employees excluded;
- provides that an agreement between a public safety
employee/employer agreement be presented to a legislative body as part of
the approval process; or
- does not require bargaining with respect to pension, retirement,
or health benefits.
H.R. 980/S. 2123 would permit
a state to exempt from its state law or the requirements of this Act a
political subdivision that has a population of less than 5,000 or that employs
fewer than 25 full-time employees.
In
the absence of a waiver of the state's sovereign immunity, H.R. 980/S. 2123 would
grant the Authority exclusive power to enforce the provisions of this Act with
respect to public safety officers employed by state.
Legislative History
H.R. 980, the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation
Act of 2007, passed the House on July 17, 2007 on a 314 to 97 vote, and was
then placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar. This bipartisan bill had 280
co-sponsors. On October 1, 2007, a companion bill, S. 2123, was
introduced in the Senate by Senator Kennedy, Chairman of the Senate
Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, and Senator Gregg. The Senate
bill, which has 34 co-sponsors, was unsuccessfully offered as an amendment to H.R.
2419, the Food and Energy Security Act of 2007. Similar pieces of
legislation have been offered every Congress going back to at least the 104th
Congress.
On May 13, 2008, the Senate
invoked cloture on a motion to proceed to H.R. 980, the Public Safety
Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007. It is anticipated that the
Senate will substitute the text of H.R. 980 with that of S. 2123,
which includes small changes negotiated to improve the bill, which have been
reflected in the summary section of this bulletin.
Expected Amendments
Several amendments are
expected to be offered to H.R. 980. The first of which is S.A. 4751,
offered by Senators Kennedy and Gregg, to substitute the language of H.R.
980 with that of S. 2123. As it becomes available, materials on
amendments will be distributed via the DPC e-mail lists.
Statement of Administration Policy
On
May 13, the Administration issued a Statement of Administration Policy in
opposition to H.R. 980.
