IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT YOU CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVE
AND ASK HIM OR HER TO VOTE IN FAVOR OF H.R. 413 AFTER
THE RECESS!!!
You can find your Representatives' district office phone
number using
www.congress.org,
or contact their office through the U.S. Capitol
switchboard at 202-225-3121.
When you reach their Washington office, ask for the
district office phone number as well!.
The bill would recognize the
fundamental right of public safety
employees--primarily law enforcement officers and
firefighters--to form and join unions and bargain
collectively with their employers over wages, hours, and
working conditions without undermining existing State
labor laws. Basically, H.R. 413 would require:
• the right of employees to form and join a union;
• a requirement that the public safety employer
recognize the union and agree to bargain over hours,
wages, and the terms and
conditions of employment; and
• the availability of an impasse resolution mechanism
such as fact-finding or mediation.
The legislation does not require binding arbitration and
would prohibit strikes and lockouts. You should
emphasize that collective bargaining is a critical tool
to resolve differences, not create them.
Law enforcement officers and firefighters do not have a
traditional labor-management relationship. The bottom
line is not shareholder profit versus wages, but how to
best keep the public safe and get the officers safely
home at the end of their shifts. The success of the law
enforcement mission depends on an open dialogue that is
absent in far too many of our departments today.
The FOP website has some great information on this
important bill:
http://www.fop.net/legislative/issues/bargain/index.shtml
If you need any additional information, please do not
hesitate to contact the National Legislative Office at
202-547-8189!
DON'T DELAY --
CONTACT YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TODAY!
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