I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5727 
To secure the rights of public employees to organize, act concertedly, and 
bargain collectively, which safeguard the public interest and promote 
the free and unobstructed flow of commerce, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
OCTOBER 26, 2021 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. AGUILAR, Ms. ADAMS, Mrs. AXNE, Ms. 
BARRAGA´N, Ms. BASS, Mrs. BEATTY, Mr. BEYER, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 
Ms. BLUNT ROCHESTER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. BOWMAN, Mr. BRENDAN 
F. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. BROWN, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mrs. BUSTOS, 
Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CASE, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. CASTRO 
of Texas, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. 
CLEAVER, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. COOPER, Mr. CORREA, Ms. CRAIG, Mr. 
CRIST, Mr. CROW, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, Ms. DEAN, Ms. 
DEGETTE, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. DESAULNIER, Mrs. DIN-
GELL, Mr. DOGGETT, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS, Ms. 
LEGER FERNANDEZ, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. FOSTER, Mr. GALLEGO, Mr. 
GARAMENDI, Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Ms. GARCIA of Texas, Mr. GOMEZ, 
Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. HIGGINS of 
New York, Mr. HIMES, Mr. HORSFORD, Ms. HOULAHAN, Mr. HUFFMAN, 
Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JONES, Mr. KAHELE, Ms. KAP-
TUR, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. KILDEE, Mr. KIM of New Jersey, Mr. 
KIND, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. KUSTER, Mr. 
LANGEVIN, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, 
Mrs. LAWRENCE, Mr. LAWSON of Florida, Ms. LEE of California, Mr. 
LEVIN of Michigan, Mr. LIEU, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mrs. LURIA, Mr. 
LYNCH, Mr. MALINOWSKI, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALONEY of New York, 
Mrs. MCBATH, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCEACHIN, Mr. MCNERNEY, Ms. 
MENG, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. MOULTON, Mr. MRVAN, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. 
NORCROSS, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. PAPPAS, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. 
PERLMUTTER, Mr. PETERS, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. POCAN, Ms. PORTER, Mr. 
PRICE of North Carolina, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RASKIN, Ms. ROYBAL- 
ALLARD, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. RUPPERSBERGER, Mr. RUSH, Mr. RYAN, Ms. 
SA´NCHEZ, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. 
SCHIFF, Mr. SCHRADER, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, 
Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Mr. SOTO, Ms. 
SPEIER, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. STANTON, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. STRICK-
LAND, Mr. SUOZZI, Mr. SWALWELL, Ms. TITUS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. TONKO, 
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Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. TORRES of New York, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. 
TRONE, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, 
Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. WELCH, Ms. WILLIAMS of Georgia, Ms. 
WILSON of Florida, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Ms. OMAR, Mr. 
SMITH of Washington, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. ROSS, Ms. NEW-
MAN, Ms. SHERRILL, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. LEVIN of Cali-
fornia, and Ms. MANNING) introduced the following bill; which was re-
ferred to the Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To secure the rights of public employees to organize, act 
concertedly, and bargain collectively, which safeguard the 
public interest and promote the free and unobstructed 
flow of commerce, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Service Free-
dom to Negotiate Act of 2021’’. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—In this Act: 
(1) APPROPRIATE
UNIT.—The term ‘‘appro-
priate unit’’ means a group of public employees or 
a group of supervisory employees appropriate for 
collective bargaining that share a community of in-
terest, as demonstrated by factors including whether 
such group— 
(A) has a bargaining history or history of 
prior organization; and 
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(B) reflects the desires of the employees 
who are seeking or proposing representation by 
a labor organization regarding the employees to 
be included in such bargaining unit. 
(2) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ means 
the Federal Labor Relations Authority. 
(3) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.—The term ‘‘col-
lective bargaining’’, used with respect to public em-
ployees, supervisory employees, and public employ-
ers, means the performance of the mutual obligation 
of the representative of a public employer and the 
exclusive representative of public and supervisory 
employees in an appropriate unit of the employer to 
meet at reasonable times and to consult and bargain 
in a good-faith effort to reach agreement with re-
spect to wages, hours, and other terms and condi-
tions of employment affecting such employees and to 
execute a written document incorporating any collec-
tive bargaining agreement reached, but the obliga-
tion referred to in this paragraph does not compel 
either party to agree to a proposal or to make a con-
cession (as described in section 8(d) of the National 
Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(d))). 
(4) 
CONFIDENTIAL
EMPLOYEE.—The 
term 
‘‘confidential employee’’ means an employee of a 
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public employer who acts in a confidential capacity 
with respect to an individual who formulates or ef-
fectuates management policies in the field of labor- 
management relations. 
(5) COVERED
PERSON.—The term ‘‘covered 
person’’ means an individual or a labor organization. 
(6) EMERGENCY
SERVICES
EMPLOYEE.—The 
term ‘‘emergency services employee’’ means— 
(A) a public employee providing out-of-hos-
pital emergency medical care, including an 
emergency medical technician, paramedic, or 
first responder; or 
(B) a public employee providing other serv-
ices in response to emergencies that have the 
potential to cause death or serious bodily in-
jury, including an employee in fire protection 
activities (as defined in section 3(y) of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
203(y))). 
(7) LABOR ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘labor 
organization’’ means any organization of any kind 
that is not under the control directly or indirectly by 
a public employer in which such employees partici-
pate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or 
in part, of dealing with public employers concerning 
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grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours 
of employment, or conditions of work. 
(8) LAW.—The term ‘‘law’’, used with respect 
to a State or a political subdivision thereof, includes 
the application of the laws of such State or such po-
litical subdivision, including any regulations or ordi-
nances issued by such State or such political subdivi-
sion. 
(9) LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER.—The term 
‘‘law enforcement officer’’ has the meaning given 
such term in section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime 
Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 
10284). 
(10) MANAGEMENT
EMPLOYEE.—The term 
‘‘management employee’’ means an individual em-
ployed by a public employer in a position the duties 
and responsibilities of which require the individual to 
formulate or determine the policies of the employer. 
(11) PUBLIC
EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘public 
employee’’— 
(A) means an individual, employed by a 
public employer, who in any workweek is en-
gaged in commerce or is employed in an enter-
prise engaged in commerce; 
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(B) includes an individual who is tempo-
rarily transferred to a supervisory or manage-
ment position; and 
(C) does not include— 
(i) a supervisory employee; 
(ii) a management employee; 
(iii) a confidential employee; 
(iv) an elected official; or 
(v) a law enforcement officer em-
ployed by a public employer as defined in 
section 2(a)(12)— 
(I) who has statutory authority 
to make arrests or apprehensions; 
(II) who is authorized by the 
agency of the employee to carry fire-
arms; and 
(III) whose duties substantially 
include the engagement in or super-
vision of the prevention, detection, or 
investigation of any person for any 
violation of law: Provided, That a law 
enforcement officer whose duties sub-
stantially include the engagement in 
or supervision of corrections, proba-
tion, parole, or juvenile detention 
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functions shall be a public employee 
under this Act. 
(12) PUBLIC
EMPLOYER.—The term ‘‘public 
employer’’ means an entity that— 
(A) employs not less than 1 individual; 
(B) is engaged in commerce; and 
(C) is either— 
(i) a State or the political subdivision 
of a State; or 
(ii) any authority, agency, school dis-
trict, board or other entity controlled and 
operated by an entity described in clause 
(i). 
(13) SUBSTANTIALLY
PROVIDES.—The term 
‘‘substantially provides’’, used with respect to the 
rights and procedures described in section 3(b), 
means providing rights and procedures that are 
equivalent to or greater than each of the rights and 
procedures described in such section. 
(14) SUPERVISORY EMPLOYEE.—The term ‘‘su-
pervisory employee’’ means an individual, employed 
by a public employer, who in any workweek is en-
gaged in commerce or is employed in an enterprise 
engaged in commerce and who— 
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(A) has the authority in the interest of the 
employer, if the exercise of such authority is 
not merely routine or clerical in nature but re-
quires the consistent exercise of independent 
judgment, to— 
(i) hire, promote, reward, transfer, 
furlough, lay off, recall, suspend, dis-
cipline, or remove public employees; 
(ii) adjust the grievances of public 
employees; or 
(iii) effectively recommend any action 
described in clause (i) or (ii); 
(B) devotes a majority of time at work to 
exercising the authority under subparagraph 
(A); and 
(C) is not a law enforcement officer as de-
scribed in paragraph (11)(C)(v). 
(b) FAIR
LABOR
STANDARDS
ACT
OF
1938 
TERMS.—The terms ‘‘commerce’’, ‘‘employ’’, ‘‘enterprise 
engaged in commerce’’, and ‘‘State’’ have the meanings 
given such terms in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203). 
(c) STATE LAW.—If any term defined in this section 
has a substantially equivalent meaning to the term (or a 
substantially equivalent term) under applicable State law 
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on the date of the enactment of this Act, such term (or 
substantially equivalent term) and meaning under such 
applicable State law shall apply with respect to the term 
defined under this Act with respect to such State. 
SEC. 3. FEDERAL MINIMUM STANDARDS. 
(a) DETERMINATION.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Author-
ity shall make a determination for each State as to 
whether the laws of such State substantially provide 
for each of the rights and procedures under sub-
section (b) and not later than 30 days after the en-
actment of this Act, the Authority shall establish 
procedures for the implementation of this section. 
(2) CONSIDERATION
OF
ADDITIONAL
OPIN-
IONS.—In making the determination under para-
graph (1), the Authority shall consider the opinions 
of affected public employees, supervisory employees, 
labor organizations, and public employers. In the 
case where the Authority is notified by an affected 
public employer and labor organization that both 
parties agree that the law applicable to such em-
ployer and labor organization substantially provides 
for the minimum standards described in subsection 
(b), the Authority shall give such agreement weight 
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to the maximum extent practicable in making the 
Authority’s determination under paragraph (1). 
(3) LIMITED CRITERIA.—In making the deter-
mination described in paragraph (1), the Authority 
may only consider the criteria described in sub-
section (b). 
(4) SUBSEQUENT DETERMINATIONS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—A determination made 
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain in ef-
fect unless and until the Authority issues a sub-
sequent determination, in accordance with the 
procedures set forth in subparagraph (B). 
(B) REQUEST.—A public employee, super-
visory employee, public employer, or a labor or-
ganization may submit to the Authority a writ-
ten request for a subsequent determination with 
respect to whether a material change of State 
law has occurred. 
(C) ISSUANCE.—If satisfied that a mate-
rial change in State law has occurred, the Au-
thority shall issue a subsequent determination 
not later than 30 days after receipt of such re-
quest. 
(5) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Any covered person or 
public employer aggrieved by a determination of the 
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Authority under this paragraph (1) may, during the 
60-day period beginning on the date on which the 
determination was made, petition any United States 
Court of Appeals in the circuit in which the covered 
person or public employer resides or transacts busi-
ness or in the Court of Appeals for the District of 
Columbia Circuit, for judicial review. In any judicial 
review of a determination made by the Authority de-
scribed in paragraph (1), the procedures contained 
in subsections (c) and (d) of section 7123 of title 5, 
United States Code, shall be followed. 
(b) FEDERAL MINIMUM STANDARD.—The collective 
bargaining rights and procedures under this subsection 
are as follows: 
(1) A right of public employees and supervisory 
employees— 
(A) to self-organization; 
(B) to form, join, or assist a labor organi-
zation or to refrain from any such activity; 
(C) to bargain collectively through rep-
resentatives of their own choosing; and 
(D) to engage in other concerted activities 
for the purpose of collective bargaining or other 
mutual aid (including the filing of joint, class, 
or collective legal claims) or protection. 
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(2) A requirement for public employers to— 
(A) recognize the labor organization of its 
public employees and supervisory employees 
(freely chosen in an election by a majority of 
such employees voting in the appropriate unit 
or chosen by voluntary recognition if that meth-
od is permitted under State law) without re-
quiring an election to recertify or decertify a 
labor organization that is already recognized as 
the representative of such employees unless not 
less than 30 percent of such employees in the 
bargaining unit freely sign a petition to decer-
tify such labor organization— 
(i) not earlier than the date that is 1 
year after the date of the election (or after 
a voluntary recognition if permitted under 
State law) of the representative; 
(ii) not earlier than 1 year after the 
expiration of a valid collective bargaining 
agreement; 
(iii) not during the term of a valid col-
lective bargaining agreement (except as 
permissible under clause (iv)); or 
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(iv) during the 30-day period begin-
ning on the date that is 90 days before the 
end of a valid existing contract; 
(B) collectively bargain with such recog-
nized labor organization; and 
(C) commit any agreements with such rec-
ognized labor organization to writing in a con-
tract or memorandum of understanding. 
(3) An interest impasse resolution mechanism, 
such as fact-finding, mediation, arbitration, or com-
parable procedures that culminate in binding resolu-
tion. 
(4) Payroll deduction of labor organization fees 
for any duly selected representative of a public em-
ployee or supervisory employee pursuant to the 
terms of an agreement between the labor organiza-
tion and such public or supervisory employee, which 
shall remain in effect until revoked by such employee 
in accordance with its terms. 
(5) The prohibition of practices that interfere 
with, restrain, or coerce public or supervisory em-
ployees in the exercise of rights guaranteed in para-
graph (1) or regulations issued thereunder. 
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(6) The enforcement of all relevant rights and 
procedures provided by State law and enumerated in 
this section. 
(7) The enforcement of all rights and proce-
dures provided by any written contract or memo-
randum of understanding between a labor organiza-
tion and a public employer, through— 
(A) a State agency, if the State so chooses; 
(B) at the election of an aggrieved party, 
the State courts, if so permitted under State 
law; or 
(C) a grievance resolution procedure culmi-
nating in binding arbitration negotiated in such 
contract or memorandum. 
(c) COMPLIANCE
WITH
RIGHTS
AND
PROCE-
DURES.—If the Authority determines under subsection (a) 
that the laws of a State substantially provide each of the 
rights and procedures described in subsection (b), then 
subsection (d) shall not apply and this Act shall not pre-
empt the laws of such State. 
(d) FAILURE TO SUBSTANTIALLY PROVIDE.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—If the Authority determines 
under subsection (a) that the laws of a State do not 
substantially provide for each of the rights and pro-
cedures described in subsection (b), then such State 
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shall be subject to the rules and activities of the Au-
thority under section 4 beginning on the later of— 
(A) the date that is 2 years after the date 
of enactment of this Act; 
(B) the date that is the last day of the 
first regular session of the legislature of the 
State that begins after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act; or 
(C) in the case of a State receiving a sub-
sequent determination under subsection (a)(4), 
the date that is the last day of the first regular 
session of the legislature of the State that be-
gins after the date the Authority made the de-
termination. 
(2) PARTIAL FAILURE.—If the Authority makes 
a determination that a State does not substantially 
provide for each of the rights and procedures de-
scribed in subsection (b) because the State fails to 
substantially provide for all of such rights and pro-
cedures with respect to any public or supervisory 
employees, the Authority shall identify— 
(A) the categories of public or supervisory 
employees of such State that shall be subject to 
the rules and activities of the Authority under 
section 4, pursuant to section 7(b)(3), begin-
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