This legislation would extend basic collective bargaining rights to state and local public safety officers, including law enforcement officers, firefighters, paramedics and EMT employees. Under this bill, those states that offer equal or greater collective bargaining rights would be exempt from this federal statute. Law enforcement officers endure strenuous, stressful, and hazardous conditions. Thus, the authority to engage in collective bargaining directly bears on management's willingness to improve these working conditions, conditions which not only influence the ability to recruit and retain qualified law enforcement officers, but can directly jeopardize officer safety and increase the risk of serious injury or death.
Collective bargaining involves more than just officer salary and benefits.
It also involves the issues of free speech, free association, and the exercise of the right to support political candidates on issues affecting their working conditions and public safety. Collective bargaining agreements enable law enforcement officers to bring their concerns to agency management or elected officials who establish other priorities. These individuals can be unsympathetic or even antagonistic to the unique working conditions of public safety officers. Collective bargaining has proven to be the most effective and democratic means by which labor and management, in both the private and public sectors, have achieved cooperation and advancement, improved employment conditions, developed fair and reasonable disciplinary procedures, and increased productivity. History proves that the denial of the right of officers to collectively bargain and the absence of dispute-resolution mechanisms cause poor employee morale, inadequate working conditions, and less effective law enforcement.