Florida Cities Join Municipalities Across the Nation in Urging U.S. Senate to Reject Legislation that Federalizes Local Collective Bargaining Process
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Cities say legislation is unwarranted, intrudes in local affairs and conflicts with the Tenth Amendment of the United States Constitution
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 13, 2008
Contact: Sharon Berrian
(850) 222-9684
TALLAHASSEE – Today, the United States Senate is considering H.R. 980 — the ill-named Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act. This proposal, if passed, would federalize collective bargaining — historically a state and local responsibility. Cities around the nation oppose this legislation because decisions about collective bargaining requirements should be left to state and local elected officials who represent their constituents and reflect their values and opinions.
In a letter dated March 17, 2008, Mike Sittig, Florida League of Cities executive director stated: “It has long been the position of our League that the federal government should not undermine municipal autonomy with respect to making fundamental employment decisions by mandating specific working conditions, including collective bargaining.”
The League believes that this federal legislation is especially not needed in Florida because of the labor protections provided by the Florida Constitution, labor agreements, city government civil service systems and municipal personnel procedures. Moreover, Florida has the Public Employee Relations Commission (PERC) to resolve employee disputes for public employees.
In a letter, dated May 8, 2008, to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Minority Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) serious concerns about this proposal were raised by U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey; U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao and U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff who say that this proposal “represents an unprecedented intrusion into state and local decision making, potentially disrupts our nation’s carefully developed emergency-response functions, and raises serious constitutional questions under the Tenth Amendment.”
The letter further stated, among a host of other problems, the following: “H.R. 980 raises serious constitutional concerns under the Tenth Amendment. It is not clear that courts would uphold the federal government’s authority to impose a comprehensive regulation of the labor relations between states and their employees in the manner prescribed by H.R. 980.” The letter recommends President Bush VETO the legislation if it is presented for his signature. (See attached letter to U.S Senators.)
The League is urging the U.S. Senate to oppose this federal mandate and respect the long-standing principle of non-interference in employer-employee relations that has existed among the federal, state and local governments.
The Florida League of Cities, Inc., is the official organization of the 412 municipal governments (cities, towns, villages and chartered counties) in Florida, designed and established to meet and serve the needs of Florida’s municipal officials.
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