[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 49 (Thursday, April 5, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      THE PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE COOPERATION ACT OF 2001

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. ROBERT W. NEY

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, April 4, 2001

  Mr. NEY. Mr. Speaker, I urge my colleagues to join my friend from 
Michigan, Mr. Kildee, me, and 114 of our colleagues to support the 
Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2001. I am proud of 
this bipartisan effort to aid our firefighters and police in this 
common sense effort to increase fairness.
  This bill is supported by the International Association of Fire 
Fighters, International Brotherhood of Police Officers, International 
Union of Police Organizations, National Association of Police 
Organizations, and the Fraternal Order of Police.
  Firefighters and police men and women protect the public everyday. 
These men and women are true public servants who put themselves in 
harm's way for others. Is it too much to ask that they be allowed to 
bargain for wages, hours, and safer working conditions? No. This bill 
helps workers, management, and the general public, because better 
employer-employee cooperation leads to cost savings and better delivery 
of services.
  Congress has long recognized the importance of assuring and 
protecting the right of workers to collectively bargain. Federal laws 
have been extended to guarantee collective bargaining to different 
sectors and now the only sizeable group of workers without the right to 
collectively bargain are employees of State and local government.
  Fire fighters and police officers take seriously their oath to 
protect the public and as a result they do not engage in worker 
slowdowns or stoppages. This bill would not allow for strikes or 
slowdowns, only the right to bargain collectively. The absence of this 
collective bargaining denies them opportunity to influence decisions 
that affect their livelihoods and families.
  The Public Safety Employer-Employee Act establishes basic minimum 
standards that state laws must meet and provides a process to resolve 
impasses in States without such laws. States that already have 
collective bargaining laws would be exempt from the Federal statute. 
Furthermore, this bill prohibits strikes and does not call for 
mandatory binding arbitration.
  I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting the bipartisan Public 
Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2001.

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