I 
108TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 814
To provide collective bargaining rights for public safety officers employed 
by States or their political subdivisions. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
FEBRUARY 13, 2003
Mr. KILDEE (for himself, Mr. NEY, Mr. ANDREWS, Mr. FERGUSON, Mr. 
ISRAEL, Mr. KIND, Mr. KING of New York, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New 
York, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. OBERSTAR, Mr. PAYNE, 
Mr. PLATTS, Mr. QUINN, Mr. SHIMKUS, and Ms. WOOLSEY) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 
the Workforce 
A BILL 
To provide collective bargaining rights for public safety 
officers employed by States or their political subdivisions.
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 Safety Em-
ployer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2003’’. 
SEC. 2. DECLARATION OF PURPOSE AND POLICY. 
Congress declares that the following is the policy of 
the United States:
(1) Labor-management relationships and part-
nerships are based on trust, mutual respect, open 
communication, bilateral consensual problem solving, 
and shared accountability. Labor-management co-
operation 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 institu-
tional stability as elected leaders and appointees 
come and go. 
(2) The health and safety of the Nation and the 
best interests of public safety employers and employ-
ees can be best protected by the settlement of issues 
through the processes of collective bargaining. 
(3) The Federal Government needs to encour-
age conciliation, mediation, and voluntary arbitra-
tion to aid and encourage employers and the rep-
resentatives of their employees to reach and main-
tain agreements concerning rates of pay, hours, and 
working conditions, and to make all reasonable ef-
forts through negotiations to settle their differences 
by mutual agreement reached through collective bar-
gaining or by such methods as may be provided for
in any applicable agreement for the settlement of 
disputes. 
(4) The absence of adequate cooperation be-
tween public safety employers and employees has im-
plications for the security of employees and can af-
fect interstate and intrastate commerce. Addition-
ally, 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 bar-
gaining negotiations in the public safety sector will 
prevent industrial strife between labor and manage-
ment that interferes with the normal flow of com-
merce. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) The term ‘‘Authority’’ means the Federal 
Labor Relations Authority. 
(2) The term ‘‘public safety officer’’—
(A) means an employee of a public safety 
agency who is a law enforcement officer, a fire-
fighter, or emergency medical services per-
sonnel; 
(B) includes an individual who is tempo-
rarily transferred to a supervisory or manage-
ment position; and 
(C) does not include a permanent super-
visory or management employee. 
(3) The term ‘‘firefighter’’ has the same mean-
ing given the term ‘employee engaged in fire protec-
tion activities’ defined in section 3 of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act (29 U.S.C. 203(y)). 
(4) The term ‘‘emergency medical services per-
sonnel’’ means an individual who provides out-of-
hospital emergency medical care, including an emer-
gency medical technician, paramedic, or first re-
sponder. 
(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 ‘‘supervisory employee’’ has the 
meaning given such term under applicable State law 
in effect on the date of enactment of this Act. If no 
such State law is in effect, the term means an indi-
vidual, employed by a public safety employer, who—
(A) has the authority in the interest of the 
employer to hire, direct, assign, promote, re-
ward, transfer, furlough, lay off, recall, sus-
pend, discipline, or remove public safety offi-
cers, to adjust their grievances, or to effectively 
recommend such action, if the exercise of the 
authority is not merely routine or clerical in na-
ture but requires the consistent exercise of 
independent judgment; and 
(B) devotes a majority of time at work ex-
ercising such authority. 
(7) The term ‘‘management employee’’ has the 
meaning given such term under applicable State law 
in effect on the date of enactment of this Act. If no 
such State law is in effect, the term means an indi-
vidual employed by a public safety employer in a po-
sition that requires or authorizes the individual to 
formulate, determine, or influence the policies of the 
employer. 
(8) The terms ‘‘employer’’ and ‘‘public safety 
agency’’ 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.