Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 1997

Summary: Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 1997 - Provides collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed by States or local governments. 
Requires States to grant public safety employees the right to form and join a labor organization which excludes management and supervisory employees, and which is, or seeks to be, recognized as the exclusive bargaining agent for such employees.  Specifies related requirements for public safety employers. 
Requires the Director the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to issue regulations establishing collective bargaining procedures for public safety employers and employees in States that fail to comply with the requirements of this Act.  Gives the FMCS the same authority as a State Labor Relations Board (or of the National Labor Relations Board where no such State Board exists) for public safety employers and employees covered by this Act.  Grants a public safety employer, employee, or labor organization the right to seek enforcement of such regulations through appropriate State courts. 
Prohibits public safety employers, employees, and labor organizations from engaging in lockouts or strikes. 
Provides that existing collective bargaining units and agreements shall not be invalidated by this Act. 
Authorizes appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Safety Employer-Employee 
Cooperation Act of 1997''.

SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF PURPOSE AND POLICY.

    The Congress declares that the following is the policy of the 
United States:
            (1) Labor-management relationships and partnerships are 
        based on trust, mutual respect, open communications, bilateral 
        and consensual problem solving, and shared accountability. 
        Dispute resolution procedures are fair, determinative, simple, 
        fast and inexpensive, and effectively and swiftly deal with 
        issues. Labor-management cooperation fully utilizes the 
        strengths of both parties to best serve the interests of the 
        public, operating as a team to carry out the public safety 
        mission in a quality work environment. In many public safety 
        agencies it is the union that provides the institutional 
        stability as elected leaders and appointees come and go.
            (2) The health and safety of the Nation and the best 
        interest of public safety employers and employees can be best 
        protected by the settlement of issues through the processes of 
        collective bargaining.
            (3) The Federal Government shall make available 
        governmental facilities for conciliation, mediation, and 
        voluntary arbitration to aid and encourage employers and the 
        representatives of their employees to reach and maintain 
        agreements concerning rates of pay, hours, and working 
        conditions, and to make all reasonable efforts to settle their 
        differences by mutual agreement reached through collective 
        bargaining or by such methods as may be provided for in any 
        applicable agreement for the settlement of disputes.
            (4) Certain controversies which arise involving collective 
        bargaining agreements may be avoided or minimized through 
        mediations and conciliation.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``Director'' means the Director of the Federal 
        Mediation and Conciliation Service.
            (2) The term ``public safety officer'' means an employee of 
        a public safety agency who is a law enforcement officer, a 
        firefighter, or emergency medical services personnel. The term 
        includes an individual who is temporarily transferred to a 
        supervisory or administrative position, but does not include a 
        permanent management or supervisory employee.
            (3) The term ``firefighter'' means an individual employed 
        in a fire department who--
                    (A) primarily performs work directly related to the 
                control and extinguishment of fires;
                    (B) is responsible for the maintenance and use of 
                firefighting apparatus and equipment, fire prevention 
                and investigation, communications and dispatch; or
                    (C) provides emergency medical care.
            (4) The term ``law enforcement officer'' means a member of 
        a law enforcement agency serving in a law enforcement position, 
        which is usually indicated by formal training (regardless of 
        whether the officer has completed or been assigned to such 
        training) and usually accompanied by the power to make arrests.
            (5) The term ``emergency medical services personnel'' means 
        an individual who provides out-of-hospital emergency medical 
        care, including an emergency medical technician, paramedic, or 
        first responder.
            (6) The term ``law enforcement agency'' means a State or 
        local public agency that is charged by law with the duty to 
        prevent or investigate crimes or apprehend or hold in custody 
        persons charged with or convicted of crimes.
            (7) The term ``management or supervisory employee'' 
        includes any public safety personnel exempted from the 
        provisions of chapter 8 of title 29, United States Code.
            (8) The terms ``employer'' and ``public safety employer'' 
        mean any State, political subdivision of a State, the District 
of Columbia, or any territory or possession of the United States.

SEC. 4. RIGHT OF PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS TO ORGANIZE AND BARGAIN 
              COLLECTIVELY.

    (a) Minimum Procedures.--To be exempt from the requirements of 
section 5, a State shall--
            (1) grant public safety employees the right to form and 
        join a labor organization which does not include management and 
        supervisory employees and which is, or seeks to be, recognized 
        as the exclusive bargaining agent of such employees;
            (2) require public safety employers to recognize the 
        employees' labor organization (freely chosen by a majority of 
        the employees), agree to bargain with the labor organization, 
        and to commit any agreements to writing in a contract or 
        memorandum of understanding;
            (3) allow bargaining over hours, wages, terms, and 
        conditions of employment;
            (4) prohibit bargaining over issues which are inherent 
        management functions;
            (5) protect all existing collective bargaining agreements, 
        memoranda of understanding, certifications, recognitions, and 
        elections;
            (6) require fact finding in the event of an interest 
        impasse;
            (7) allow the parties voluntarily to agree to submit 
        disagreements to arbitration;
            (8) require enforcement through State courts of all rights, 
        responsibilities, and protections provided in this section and 
        of any written contract or memorandum of understanding; and
            (9) prohibit strikes and lockouts.
    (b) Determination.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Mediation 
        and Conciliation Service shall issue a determination as to 
        whether a State meets the requirements of subsection (a).
            (2) Subsequent determinations.--After the expiration of the 
        180-day period referred to in paragraph (1), an employer or 
        labor organization may request the Director of the Federal 
        Mediation and Conciliation Service to determine whether the 
        State meets the requirements of subsection (a). The Director 
        shall issue such a determination not later than 30 days after 
        written receipt of such a request.
            (3) Failure to meet requirements.--A State that does not 
        meet or exceed the requirements of subsection (a) shall be 
        subject to the regulations and procedures described in section 
        5.

SEC. 5. FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Director of the Federal Mediation and 
Conciliation Service shall issue regulations establishing collective 
bargaining procedures for public safety employers and employees in 
States that are not granted an exemption under section 4.
    (b) Role of FMCS.--The regulations described in subsection (a) 
shall incorporate the rights and responsibilities in section 4(a), and 
shall use the services of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation 
Service. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service shall have the 
same authority as a State Labor Relations Board, or in a case where no 
such Board exists, the National Labor Relations Board, for public 
safety employers and employees covered under this Act.
    (c) Enforcement.--A public safety employer, employee, and labor 
organization each shall have the right to seek enforcement of this 
section through appropriate State courts.

SEC. 6. STRIKES AND LOCKOUTS PROHIBITED.

    A public safety employer, employee, or labor organization may not 
engage in lockouts or strikes.

SEC. 7. EXISTING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING UNITS AND AGREEMENTS.

    A certification, recognition, election-held, collective bargaining 
agreement or memorandum of understanding which has been issued, 
approved, or ratified by any public employee relations board or 
commission or by any State or political subdivision or its agents 
(management officials) in effect on the day before the date of 
enactment of this Act shall not be invalidated by enactment of this 
Act.

SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 
necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act.