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We at the National Right to Work Committee are fighting at many levels to protect America's working men and women's right to decide for themselves whether or not a union deserves their financial support.
Whether it be in the state and federal legislatures, the courts, or hearing rooms at the FEC or the NLRB, we fight to ensure that workers join unions because they want to – not out of fear or federal mandate.
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Police and Fire Monopoly-Bargaining Bill Pushed in U.S. Senate for Third Time
Daschle, Kennedy Exploit National Crisis for Big Labor's Benefit
FOR RELEASE: November 1, 2001
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senate Democrats are rapidly moving on legislative language that would force all state and local public safety employees to accept union bosses as their monopoly bargaining agents.
The deceptively-titled Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act (S. 952), would federally mandate that state and local governments authorize union officials to act as the monopoly bargaining agents for their police, firefighters, paramedics and other public-safety officers in all 50 states.
Union officials pushing this legislation openly referred to it as "the largest expansion of labor [union] rights considered by Congress in decades."
After a previous attempt to push S. 952 was stopped earlier in October, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) spoke before the International Association of Fire Fighters, vowing his "commitment that this Senate will pass" a national forced unionism bill for public safety employees.
On Wednesday, Daschle acted by attaching S. 952 to the must-pass Labor/HHS FY '02 Appropriations Bill, hoping to get it past Right to Work supporters.
John Tate, vice president of the 2.2 million-member National Right to Work Committee®, vowed the grassroots organization would fight "Organized Labor's grotesque power grab."
"Daschle's move is the third attempt by Ted Kennedy & Company to exploit the September 11 attacks for the benefit of their Big Labor masters," said Mr. Tate.
The first shot came when Sen. Kennedy, in a near-empty Senate chamber, attempted to pass this bill by unanimous consent. This first attempt was thwarted, but he wasn't through yet.
In a second maneuver, Kennedy offered an amendment attaching this bill to the 2002 Defense Department Authorization Bill, which has passed the Senate (without Kennedy's amendment). Kennedy's scheme was again stopped, but only by pulling the entire Defense bill off the Senate floor for several days, and then continuing the debate under rules that prohibited such outrageous amendments.
"Now, Daschle, Kennedy and their cohorts are back again," said Mr. Tate. "The National Right to Work Committee® will vigorously oppose these backdoor attempts to force our brave police officers, firefighters and other public safety workers under the yoke of forced unionism."
Despite union officials' best efforts in the past, a majority of states have previously resisted the demands that are included in this legislation. But passage of this bill would preempt state law by federal mandate.
This dangerous legislation is ultimately designed to bring about federally-imposed monopoly bargaining which would strip public-safety officers and employees of their freedom to represent themselves, and would soak state and local taxpayers for hundreds of millions of dollars annually in increased costs.
The National Right to Work Committee® is mobilizing a grassroots campaign to fight this bill in the Senate, and to urge President Bush to veto it in any form Congress sends it to him.
For questions or more information, contact Barry Kelley or John Tate at 800-325-7892.