Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 1999

Summary: Directs the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA) to determine whether State law provides specified rights and responsibilities for public safety officers, including: (1) granting 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; and (2) requiring public safety employers to recognize and agree to bargain with the employees' labor organization.
(Sec. 5) Requires the FLRA to issue regulations establishing collective bargaining procedures for public safety employers and employees in States that do not substantially provide for such public safety employee rights and responsibilities.
Directs the FLRA, in such cases,  to: (1) determine the appropriateness of units for labor organization representation; (2) supervise or conduct elections to determine whether a labor organization has been selected as an exclusive representative by a majority of the employees in an appropriate unit; (3) resolve issues relating to the duty to bargain in good faith; (4) conduct hearings and resolve complaints of unfair labor practices; and (5) resolve exceptions to arbitrator's awards.
Grants a public safety employer, employee, or labor organization the right to seek enforcement of such FLRA regulations and authority through appropriate State courts.
(Sec. 6) Prohibits public safety employers, employees, and labor organizations from engaging in lockouts or strikes.
(Sec. 7) Provides that existing collective bargaining units and agreements shall not be invalidated by this Act.
(Sec. 9) Authorizes appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Public Safety Employer-Employee 
Cooperation Act of 1999''.

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. 
        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 needs to encourage 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 through 
        negotiations 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) The absence of adequate cooperation between public 
        safety employers and employees has implications for the 
        security of employees and can affect interstate and intrastate 
        commerce. Additionally, the lack of such labor-management 
        cooperation detrimentally impacts the upgrading of police and 
        fire services of local communities, the health and well-being 
        of public safety officers, and the morale of the fire and 
        police departments. These factors could have significant 
        commercial repercussions. Moreover, providing minimal standards 
        for collective bargaining negotiations in the public safety 
        industry will prevent industrial strife between labor and 
        management that interferes with the normal flow of commerce.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) The term ``Authority'' means the Federal Labor 
        Relations Authority.
            (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 
        by 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 ``emergency medical services personnel'' means 
        an individual who provides out-of-hospital emergency medical 
        care, including an emergency medical technician, paramedic, or 
        first responder.
            (5) The term ``law enforcement officer'' has the same 
        meaning given such term in section 1204(5) of the Omnibus Crime 
        Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (42 U.S.C. 3796b(5)).
            (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 ``supervisory employee'' means an individual 
        employed by a public safety employer who--
                    (A) has the authority in the interest of the 
                employer to hire, direct, assign, promote, reward, 
                transfer, furlough, layoff, recall, suspend, 
                discipline, or remove public safety, officers, to 
                adjust their grievances or to effectively recommend 
                such action, if the exercise of the authority is not 
                merely routine or clerical in nature but requires the 
                consistent exercise of independent judgment; and
                    (B) devotes a majority of time at work exercising 
                such authority.
            (8) The term ``management employee'' means an individual 
        employed by a public safety employer in a position that 
        requires or authorizes the individual to formulate, determine, 
        or influence the policies of the employer.
            (9) 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 that employs public safety officers.

SEC. 4. RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES; DETERMINATION.

    (a) Rights and Responsibilities.--In making a determination 
described in subsection (b), the Authority shall consider whether State 
law provides rights and responsibilities that include--
            (1) granting public safety officers the right to form and 
        join a labor organization that does not include management and 
        supervisory employees and that is, or seeks to be, recognized 
        as the exclusive bargaining agent of such employees;
            (2) requiring public safety employers to recognize the 
        employees' labor organization (freely chosen by a majority of 
        the employees), to agree to bargain with the labor 
        organization, and to commit any agreements to writing in a 
        contract or memorandum of understanding;
            (3) allowing bargaining over hours, wages, terms, and 
        conditions of employment;
            (4) prohibiting bargaining over issues which are 
        traditional and customary management functions;
            (5) protecting all existing collective bargaining 
        agreements, memoranda of understanding, certifications, 
        recognitions, and elections;
            (6) requiring fact finding in the event of an interest 
        impasse;
            (7) allowing the parties voluntarily to agree to submit 
        disagreements to arbitration;
            (8) requiring 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) prohibiting strikes and lockouts.
    (b) Determination.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Authority shall issue a 
        determination as to whether a State substantially provides for 
        the rights and responsibilities described in subsection (a).
            (2) Subsequent determinations.--A determination issued 
        pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain in effect until an 
        employer or labor organization submits a written request to the 
        Authority to issue a subsequent such determination. The 
        Director shall issue the determination not later than 30 days 
        after receipt of such a request.
    (c) Failure To Meet Requirements.--A State that does not 
substantially provide for the rights and responsibilities described in 
subsection (a) shall be subject to the regulations and procedures 
described in section 5 until a subsequent determination is made.

SEC. 5. ROLE OF AUTHORITY.

    (a) In General.--Not later than one year after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Authority shall issue regulations in 
accordance with the rights and responsibilities described in section 
4(a) establishing collective bargaining procedures for public safety 
employers and officers in States that do not substantially provide for 
the rights and responsibilities described in section 4(a).
    (b) Role of the Federal Labor Relations Authority.--The Authority 
shall, to the extent provided in this Act and in accordance with 
regulations prescribed by the Authority--
            (1) determine the appropriateness of units for labor 
        organization representation;
            (2) supervise or conduct elections to determine whether a 
        labor organization has been selected as an exclusive 
        representative by a majority of the employees in an appropriate 
        unit;
            (3) resolve issues relating to the duty to bargain in good 
        faith;
            (4) conduct hearings and resolve complaints of unfair labor 
        practices;
            (5) resolve exceptions to arbitrator's awards; and
            (6) take such other actions as are necessary and 
        appropriate to effectively administer the provisions of this 
        Act.
    (c) Enforcement.--A public safety employer, officer, 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, officer, 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 the enactment of this 
Act.

SEC. 8. CONSTRUCTION AND COMPLIANCE.

    (a) Construction.--Nothing in this Act shall be construed to 
invalidate or limit the remedies, rights, and procedures of any law of 
any State or political subdivision of any State or jurisdiction that 
provides greater or equal collective bargaining rights for public 
safety employees.
    (b) Compliance.--No State shall preempt laws or ordinances of any 
of its political subdivisions which provide greater or equal collective 
bargaining rights for public safety employees in order to comply with 
this Act.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

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