Tulsa_Fireman
9/14/2010, 10:00 AM
Lawyerly types, if I could tap your wisdom for a moment. First, the setting.
It is a hot and heavy rumor and (from my perspective) a scare tactic that with Oklahoma's now republican congress, efforts are currently underway to dissolve the Fire and Police Arbitration Act, state legislation allowing Oklahoma public safety workers, namely police and fire, to collectively bargain with their respective municipalities. Through the Act, strikes as a concern of public safety are prohibited, establishment of unfair labor practices are reviewed by the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) and adjucated upon by the state District Court, and through the PERB, collective bargaining agencies are verified and certified.
As I review the National Labor Relations Act, the Oklahoma Municipal Employees Collective Bargaining Act, and other assorted examples of legislation defining the rights of public employees to collective bargaining, I notice a few things. One, police and fire agencies are specifically exempt from these laws. Two, there is pending federal legislation extending collective bargaining rights to police and fire agencies which tells me there is no existing federal legislation extending these rights. Three, in every instance, they are coined as "rights". Four, there is a bevy of state District Court decisions in regards to the authority of the PERB, decisions on disputes, and the rights as they apply to police and firefighters and their respective municipalities. All of which lead to my questions.
Should the state legislature dissolve the Fire and Police Arbitration Act as threatened and federal legislation fails to be established to extend collective bargaining rights to these agencies, do police and fire agencies suddenly LOSE the right to collectively bargain? How is that right defined as a right (constitutionality, et cetera)? IF the Act is repealed, does it somehow remove the applicability of the established case law passed from the state District Courts? And last but not least, in your honored opinions, is the striking of the FPAA even feasible regardless of political climate?
I'll take your answers off the air. And thanks in advance.
It is a hot and heavy rumor and (from my perspective) a scare tactic that with Oklahoma's now republican congress, efforts are currently underway to dissolve the Fire and Police Arbitration Act, state legislation allowing Oklahoma public safety workers, namely police and fire, to collectively bargain with their respective municipalities. Through the Act, strikes as a concern of public safety are prohibited, establishment of unfair labor practices are reviewed by the Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) and adjucated upon by the state District Court, and through the PERB, collective bargaining agencies are verified and certified.
As I review the National Labor Relations Act, the Oklahoma Municipal Employees Collective Bargaining Act, and other assorted examples of legislation defining the rights of public employees to collective bargaining, I notice a few things. One, police and fire agencies are specifically exempt from these laws. Two, there is pending federal legislation extending collective bargaining rights to police and fire agencies which tells me there is no existing federal legislation extending these rights. Three, in every instance, they are coined as "rights". Four, there is a bevy of state District Court decisions in regards to the authority of the PERB, decisions on disputes, and the rights as they apply to police and firefighters and their respective municipalities. All of which lead to my questions.
Should the state legislature dissolve the Fire and Police Arbitration Act as threatened and federal legislation fails to be established to extend collective bargaining rights to these agencies, do police and fire agencies suddenly LOSE the right to collectively bargain? How is that right defined as a right (constitutionality, et cetera)? IF the Act is repealed, does it somehow remove the applicability of the established case law passed from the state District Courts? And last but not least, in your honored opinions, is the striking of the FPAA even feasible regardless of political climate?
I'll take your answers off the air. And thanks in advance.