I 
115TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 6445 
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 
JULY 19, 2018 
Mr. FITZPATRICK (for himself, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mr. DONOVAN, Mr. SMITH 
of New Jersey, and Mr. MCKINLEY) introduced the following bill; which 
was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce 
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 Employee Free-
dom to Negotiate Act of 2018’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
It is the purpose of this Act to— 
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(1) secure the rights of public employees to 
form or join unions, act concertedly for the purpose 
of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or pro-
tection, and bargain collectively with their employ-
ers; and 
(2) reaffirm the policy of the United States to 
encourage the practice and procedure of collective 
bargaining, which safeguards the public interest and 
promotes the free and unobstructed flow of com-
merce. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) AUTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ means 
the Federal Labor Relations Authority. 
(2) COLLECTIVE BARGAINING.—The term ‘‘col-
lective bargaining’’, with respect to public employees 
and public employers, means the performance of the 
mutual obligation of the representative of a public 
employer and the exclusive representative of public 
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, if requested by either party, a written docu-
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ment incorporating any collective bargaining agree-
ment reached, but the obligation referred to in this 
paragraph does not compel either party to agree to 
a proposal or to make a concession. 
(3) CONFIDENTIAL EMPLOYEE.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in 
subparagraph (B), the term ‘‘confidential em-
ployee’’ means a public employee who acts in a 
confidential capacity with respect to an indi-
vidual who formulates or effectuates manage-
ment policies in the field of labor-management 
relations. 
(B) STATE LAW.—If the term ‘‘confiden-
tial employee’’, or a substantially equivalent 
term, has a substantially equivalent meaning 
under applicable State law to the meaning 
under subparagraph (A) on the date of the en-
actment of this Act, such term, or substantially 
equivalent term, and meaning under such appli-
cable State law shall apply with respect to the 
term ‘‘confidential employee’’ under this Act for 
public employees and public employers in such 
State. 
(4) EMERGENCY
SERVICES
EMPLOYEE.—The 
term ‘‘emergency services employee’’ means— 
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