Title
Public Safety Employer - Employee Cooperation Act of 2009 (B)
Explanation
Congress is currently considering passage of legislation that will substantially impact the public safety employee collective bargaining process. The Public Safety Employer - Employee Cooperation Act of 2009 mandates that all municipalities, counties and states are required to collectively bargain with public safety employee labor unions over wages, benefits and working conditions, under one-size fits all federal government rules to be developed later. The legislation was recently added in the House of Representatives to the larger Supplemental Appropriations Bill that provides funding for ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other things. The Senate is expected to take up the bill in July. Generally, this specific provision would accomplish the following:
Grant every police officer, firefighter and emergency medical technician at the state or local level the right to form and join a labor union;
Direct local governments to recognize the employees' labor union;
Require cities and towns to collectively bargain over hours, wages, and the terms and conditions of employment other than pensions;
Require states and municipal governments to establish an impasse resolution process;
Require that state courts enforce the rights established by this mandatory collective bargaining bill; and
Direct every state - even if it currently recognizes employee collective bargaining rights - to conform to the federal regulations around mandatory collective bargaining within two years of the bill's effective date and without regard to state or local laws.
There are two main impacts to the City of Gainesville if this legislation is enacted. First the federal legislation may preempt Florida State Statute which currently governs the public safety employee collectively bargaining process. The second impact, as a result if the state law is preempted, is that the portion of th...
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