Sec. 2. Findings; purpose
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Congress makes the following findings: The denial by some public employers of the right of public employees to organize and the refusal by some public employers to accept the procedure of collective bargaining lead to strikes and other forms of strife or unrest. Such actions have the intent or the necessary effect of burdening or obstructing commerce by— impairing the efficiency, safety, or operation of the instrumentalities of commerce, which depend on stable government services and public infrastructure; materially affecting, restraining, or controlling the flow of goods into the channels of commerce, or the prices of such materials or goods in commerce; or causing diminution of employment and wages in such volume so as to substantially impair or disrupt the market for goods flowing from or into the channels of commerce.
The inequality of bargaining power between public employees, who do not possess full freedom of association or actual liberty of contract, and public employers substantially burdens and affects the flow of commerce, and tends to aggravate recurrent business depressions, by depressing wage rates and the purchasing power of wage earners and by negatively affecting the stabilization of competitive wage rates and decent working conditions. Experience in public employment indicates that the statutory protection of the rights of public employees to organize, act concertedly, and bargain collectively safeguards the public interest and promotes the free and unobstructed flow of commerce among the States by removing certain recognized sources of strife and unrest.
Such protection facilitates and encourages the amicable settlement of disputes between public employees and their public employers involving terms and conditions of employment and other matters of mutual concern. To be most effective and stable, labor-management relationships in the public sector must be based on trust, mutual respect, open communication, bilateral consensual problem solving, and shared accountability. In many public agencies, it is the union that provides the institutional stability as elected leaders and appointees come and go.
State and local public employees play an essential role in the efforts of the United States to detect, prevent, and respond to terrorist attacks, and to respond to natural disasters, hazardous materials, and other mass casualty incidents. State and local public employees, as first responders, are a component of our Nation's National Incident Management System, developed by the Department of Homeland Security to coordinate response to and recovery from terrorism, major natural disasters, and other major emergencies.
Effective and stable public employer-employee relationships are essential in meeting these needs and are, therefore, in both the National interest as well as in furtherance of the United States obligation to safeguard the country under article IV, section 4 of the Constitution of the United States. Teachers and other education professionals (including paraprofessionals, custodians, administrative staff, cafeteria workers, specialized instructional support personnel, and others) work to provide quality education to every student.
Students deserve the opportunity to reach their full potential in a well-resourced public school. Conflict between public employers and public employees has implications for the security of public employees and the public and affects interstate and intrastate commerce. Ineffective and unstable labor-management relations can detrimentally impact the upgrading of public services of local communities, the health and well-being of public employees, and the morale within public agencies.
Additionally, these factors have significant commercial repercussions. Moreover, providing minimal standards for collective bargaining rights in the public sector can prevent industrial strife between labor and management that interferes with the normal flow of commerce. It is settled law that Congress has authority under the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution to safeguard protections for employees of State and local governments. Many States and localities already have laws that provide public employees with collective bargaining rights comparable to or greater than the rights and responsibilities set forth in this Act, and such State and local laws should be respected.
While the National Labor Relations Act ( 29 U.S.C. 151 et seq.) protects the rights of private-sector employees to form or join unions, act concertedly for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and bargain collectively with their employers, no Federal law protects these fundamental labor rights for employees of the States, including territories and possessions of the United States, and the political subdivisions thereof. The Federal Government needs to encourage conciliation, mediation, and dispute resolution to aid and encourage public employers and the representatives of their public employees to reach and maintain agreements concerning rates of pay, hours, and working conditions, and to make all reasonable efforts through negotiations to settle their differences by mutual agreement reached through collective bargaining or by such methods as may be provided for in any applicable agreement for the settlement of disputes.
It is the purpose of this Act to— secure the rights of public employees to form or join unions, act concertedly for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection, and bargain collectively with their employers; and reaffirm the policy of the United States to encourage the practice and procedure of collective bargaining, which safeguards the public interest and promotes the free and unobstructed flow of commerce.
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