Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007 - Continued

Floor Speech

PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE COOPERATION ACT OF 2007--Continued -- (Senate - May 13, 2008)

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Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, today I am pleased to be joined by Senator Kennedy and the other 31 cosponsors of the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007, as we begin discussion of this legislation. The Cooperation Act would extend to firefighters, police officers, and other public safety officials the right to discuss workplace issues with their employers.

Each year, more than 80,000 police officers and 75,000 firefighters are injured protecting their communities. Not counting the tragic events of September 11, it is estimated that 162 police officers and 100 firefighters will lose their lives each year in the line of duty. These extraordinary individuals selflessly risk injury, and sometimes their lives, to protect others, yet they remain the only sizable segment of workers who do not have the combined right to enter into collective bargaining agreements with their employers.

The Public Safety Employee-Employer Cooperation Act is balanced in its recognition of the unique situation and obligation of public safety officers. The bill requires that, within 2 years of enactment, States offer public safety officers the ability to vote in a free and fair election on whether to form and voluntarily join a union and collectively bargain over hours, wages, and conditions of employment. The bill only affects States which do not currently provide this opportunity, and those States would have 2 years to establish their own collective bargaining systems that can meet their unique needs. This approach leaves the decisions regarding implementation, enforcement, and all other major details with the individual States and local governments, ultimately allowing them to have the final say over any contract terms. Finally, under this legislation, States with right-to-work laws, which prohibit employers and labor organizations from negotiating labor agreements that require union membership or payment of union fees, can continue to implement those laws.

The legislation recognizes the need to put public safety first, so the use of strikes, lockouts, sickouts, work slowdowns, or any other action that is designed to influence the terms of a proposed contract and that will disrupt the delivery of emergency services is strictly prohibited. It further protects small towns by ensuring that areas with populations of less than 5,000 or fewer than 25 full time employees are exempt from collective bargaining and that firefighters or EMTs who are employed by a department participating in collective bargaining agreements can still serve their local communities as volunteers.

Healthy labor-management partnerships result in improved public safety for our towns and cities. The bipartisan Cooperation Act helps build these partnerships by putting firefighters, law enforcement officials, and other public safety officers on much deserved equal footing with other private and public sector employees and providing them with the ability to negotiate with employers over basic workplace rights.

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