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Firefighters a Step Closer to Bargaining Rights |
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Firefighters, police officers, emergency medical technicians and other public safety officers are a step closer to guaranteed collective bargaining rights after the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly (314–97) approved legislation yesterday protecting those rights.
Says Fire Fighters (IAFF) President Harold Schaitberger:
The men and women who risk their lives everyday deserve a seat at the table to discuss workplace issues, including their own safety while they perform a dangerous job, and this victory is the first step to making that happen.
Some 20 states do not fully protect the bargaining rights of firefighters, police officers, corrections officers and emergency medical service workers. Two states—Virginia and North Carolina—prohibit public safety employees from collectively bargaining.
The bill, Public Safety Employee-Employer Cooperation Act of 2007 (H.R. 980), guarantees first responders:
- The right to join a union.
- The right to have their union recognized by their employer.
- The right to bargain collectively over hours, wages and terms and conditions of employment.
- A mediation or arbitration process for resolving an impasse in negotiations.
- Enforcement of the bill’s provisions through the courts.
Rep. Dale Kildee (D-Mich.), the bill’s sponsor, says:
Our firefighters and police officers risk their lives to keep us safe. Yet there are some states in this country that deny them the basic right to discuss workplace issues with their employers—a right many Americans have. At the very least, they should be allowed to negotiate for wages, hours and safe working conditions.
The legislation now goes to the Senate.
3 Comments
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THE STATES THAT PROHIBIT UNIONS,,, NEED TO COME TO GRIPS WITH REALITY.,,,THANKS TO UNIONS,,THE MIDDLE CLASS OF PEOPLE CAME INTO EXISTENCE. THOSE SAME STATES, MORE THAN LIKELY DO ‘NOT’ HAVE MUCH OF A MIDDLE CLASS OF PEOPLE. THEY ARE NOT REALLY A PART OF AMERICA.
This is such a huge issue to know about and understand — and I am glad this is here for people to read. I personally get a lot of opinions from friends who are on the fire department in NY; 911 first responders who were ignored by mainstream media after the mayor refused brothers the opportunity to find fallen brothers — something a lot of people don’t realize about Giuliani.
[...] the AFL-CIO blog reports, nearly 20 states limit our public safety officers’ bargaining rights while two other [...]