Police - Fire Monopoly Bargaining Bill Defeated in U.S. Senate for Third Time

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Police - Fire Monopoly Bargaining Bill Defeated in U.S. Senate for Third Time

Big Labor power grab beaten back by Right to Work supporters

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Organized Labor's latest attempt to force all state and local public safety employees to accept union bosses as their monopoly bargaining agents was narrowly stopped in the face of stiff resistance by pro-Right to Work senators.

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.

This bill was offered as an amendment to the Labor-HHS appropriations bill in the U.S. Senate Tuesday.

Union officials pushing this legislation openly referred to it as "the largest expansion of labor [union] rights considered by Congress in decades."

Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) removed the Big Labor-favored amendment from the FY '02 Labor/HHS Appropriations Bill late Tuesday, after the Senate failed to shut off debate. Forced unionism advocates failed to get the votes needed to overcome Right to Work opposition to this amendment.

Several senators from both sides of the aisle joined the floor fight after realizing how unpopular the bill is, with some receiving angry phone calls from irate constituents who had been mobilized by the National Right to Work Committee® in recent days.

Last Wednesday Sen. Daschle attached S. 952 to this must-pass Labor-HHS appropriations bill. The South Dakotan then rescheduled the bill for consideration on Thursday after opponents mounted a principled defense of police and firefighters' Right to Work.

After a previous attempt to push S. 952 was stopped earlier in October, presidential-aspirant Daschle spoke before the International Association of Fire Fighters, vowing his "commitment that this Senate will pass" a national monopoly bargaining bill for public safety employees.

John Tate, vice president of the 2.2 million-member National Right to Work Committee®, vowed the grassroots organization would be back to fight "Organized Labor's monster every time Ted Kennedy and Tom Daschle try raise it from the dead."

"Kennedy & Daschle have once again attempted to exploit the September 11 tragedy for the crass political benefit of Big Labor," said Mr. Tate. "Unfortunately I don't believe we've seen the last of them."

Just two days after the terrorist attacks, while smoke was still billowing out of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Kennedy quietly rammed S. 952 through his Senate Health Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, without so much as a hearing or a recorded vote.

Then, despite this bill being "largest expansion of labor [union] power Congress has considered in decades," Sen. Kennedy attempted to ram it through the Senate with no vote and no debate by calling for passage by unanimous consent in a near-empty chamber. He was thwarted by a pro-Right to Work Senator.

In his third maneuver, Kennedy one week later offered an amendment attaching this bill to the 2002 Defense Department Authorization Bill.

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. The Defense bill has since passed.

"Kennedy and Daschle's attempt at this backdoor forced unionism scheme was only beaten back by the hard work and efforts of Right to Work supporters nationwide, who furiously called their senators and demanded they vote against this latest power-grab by Big Labor," said Mr. Tate.

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 continue fighting 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.