Us Congress 2025-2026 Regular Session

Us Congress Senate Bill SB1352 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	II
2	2	119THCONGRESS
3	3	1
4	4	STSESSION S. 1352
5	5	To secure the rights of public employees to organize, act concertedly, and
6	6	bargain collectively, which safeguard the public interest and promote
7	7	the free and unobstructed flow of commerce, and for other purposes.
8	8	IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
9	9	APRIL8, 2025
10	10	Ms. H
11	11	IRONO(for herself, Ms. ALSOBROOKS, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr.
12	12	B
13	13	LUMENTHAL, Ms. BLUNTROCHESTER, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. CANTWELL,
14	14	Mr. C
15	15	OONS, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. FETTERMAN, Mr.
16	16	G
17	17	ALLEGO, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. HEINRICH, Mr. KAINE, Mr. KIM, Ms.
18	18	K
19	19	LOBUCHAR, Mr. LUJA´N, Mr. MARKEY, Mr. MERKLEY, Mr. MURPHY,
20	20	Mrs. M
21	21	URRAY, Mr. PADILLA, Mr. PETERS, Mr. REED, Ms. ROSEN, Mr.
22	22	S
23	23	ANDERS, Ms. SLOTKIN, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHUMER, Ms.
24	24	S
25	25	MITH, Mr. VANHOLLEN, Ms. WARREN, Mr. WELCH, Mr. WHITE-
26	26	HOUSE, and Mr. WYDEN) introduced the following bill; which was read
27	27	twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
28	28	Pensions A BILL
29	29	To secure the rights of public employees to organize, act
30	30	concertedly, and bargain collectively, which safeguard the
31	31	public interest and promote the free and unobstructed
32	32	flow of commerce, and for other purposes.
33	33	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
34	34	tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
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37	37	•S 1352 IS
38	38	SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1
39	39	This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Public Service Free-2
40	40	dom to Negotiate Act of 2025’’. 3
41	41	SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 4
42	42	(a) I
43	43	NGENERAL.—In this Act: 5
44	44	(1) A
45	45	PPROPRIATE UNIT.—The term ‘‘appro-6
46	46	priate unit’’ means a group of public employees or 7
47	47	a group of supervisory employees appropriate for 8
48	48	collective bargaining that share a community of in-9
49	49	terest, as demonstrated by factors including whether 10
50	50	such group— 11
51	51	(A) has a bargaining history or history of 12
52	52	prior organization; and 13
53	53	(B) reflects the desires of the employees 14
54	54	who are seeking or proposing representation by 15
55	55	a labor organization regarding the employees to 16
56	56	be included in such bargaining unit. 17
57	57	(2) A
58	58	UTHORITY.—The term ‘‘Authority’’ means 18
59	59	the Federal Labor Relations Authority. 19
60	60	(3) C
61	61	OLLECTIVE BARGAINING .—The term ‘‘col-20
62	62	lective bargaining’’, used with respect to public em-21
63	63	ployees, supervisory employees, and public employ-22
64	64	ers, means the performance of the mutual obligation 23
65	65	of the representative of a public employer and the 24
66	66	exclusive representative of an appropriate unit of 25
67	67	public and supervisory employees of the employer to 26
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70	70	•S 1352 IS
71	71	meet at reasonable times and to consult and bargain 1
72	72	in a good-faith effort to reach agreement with re-2
73	73	spect to wages, hours, and other terms and condi-3
74	74	tions of employment affecting such employees and to 4
75	75	execute a written document incorporating any collec-5
76	76	tive bargaining agreement reached, but the obliga-6
77	77	tion referred to in this paragraph does not compel 7
78	78	either party to agree to a proposal or to make a con-8
79	79	cession (as described in section 8(d) of the National 9
80	80	Labor Relations Act (29 U.S.C. 158(d))). 10
81	81	(4) C
82	82	ONFIDENTIAL EMPLOYEE .—The term 11
83	83	‘‘confidential employee’’ means an employee of a 12
84	84	public employer who acts in a confidential capacity 13
85	85	with respect to an individual who formulates or ef-14
86	86	fectuates management policies in the field of labor- 15
87	87	management relations. 16
88	88	(5) C
89	89	OVERED PERSON .—The term ‘‘covered 17
90	90	person’’ means an individual or a labor organization. 18
91	91	(6) E
92	92	MERGENCY SERVICES EMPLOYEE .—The 19
93	93	term ‘‘emergency services employee’’ means— 20
94	94	(A) a public employee providing out-of-hos-21
95	95	pital emergency medical care, including an 22
96	96	emergency medical technician, paramedic, or 23
97	97	first responder; or 24
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100	100	•S 1352 IS
101	101	(B) a public employee providing other serv-1
102	102	ices in response to emergencies that have the 2
103	103	potential to cause death or serious bodily in-3
104	104	jury, including an employee in fire protection 4
105	105	activities (as defined in section 3(y) of the Fair 5
106	106	Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 6
107	107	203(y))). 7
108	108	(7) L
109	109	ABOR ORGANIZATION .—The term ‘‘labor 8
110	110	organization’’ means any organization of any kind 9
111	111	that is not under the control directly or indirectly by 10
112	112	a public employer in which such employees partici-11
113	113	pate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or 12
114	114	in part, of dealing with public employers concerning 13
115	115	grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours 14
116	116	of employment, or conditions of work. 15
117	117	(8) L
118	118	AW.—The term ‘‘law’’, used with respect 16
119	119	to a State or a political subdivision thereof, includes 17
120	120	the application of the laws of such State or such po-18
121	121	litical subdivision, including any regulations or ordi-19
122	122	nances issued by such State or such political subdivi-20
123	123	sion. 21
124	124	(9) L
125	125	AW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER .—The term 22
126	126	‘‘law enforcement officer’’ has the meaning given 23
127	127	such term in section 1204 of the Omnibus Crime 24
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130	130	•S 1352 IS
131	131	Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 1
132	132	10284). 2
133	133	(10) M
134	134	ANAGEMENT EMPLOYEE .—The term 3
135	135	‘‘management employee’’ means an individual em-4
136	136	ployed by a public employer in a position the duties 5
137	137	and responsibilities of which require the individual to 6
138	138	formulate or determine the policies of the public em-7
139	139	ployer. 8
140	140	(11) P
141	141	UBLIC EMPLOYEE .—The term ‘‘public 9
142	142	employee’’— 10
143	143	(A) means an individual, employed by a 11
144	144	public employer, who in any workweek is en-12
145	145	gaged in commerce or is employed in an enter-13
146	146	prise engaged in commerce; 14
147	147	(B) includes an individual who is tempo-15
148	148	rarily transferred to a supervisory or manage-16
149	149	ment position; and 17
150	150	(C) does not include— 18
151	151	(i) a supervisory employee; 19
152	152	(ii) a management employee; 20
153	153	(iii) a confidential employee; or 21
154	154	(iv) an elected official. 22
155	155	(12) P
156	156	UBLIC EMPLOYER .—The term ‘‘public 23
157	157	employer’’ means an entity that— 24
158	158	(A) employs not less than 1 individual; 25
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161	161	•S 1352 IS
162	162	(B) is engaged in commerce; and 1
163	163	(C) is either— 2
164	164	(i) a State or the political subdivision 3
165	165	of a State; or 4
166	166	(ii) any authority, agency, school dis-5
167	167	trict, board or other entity controlled and 6
168	168	operated by an entity described in clause 7
169	169	(i). 8
170	170	(13) S
171	171	UBSTANTIALLY PROVIDES .—The term 9
172	172	‘‘substantially provides’’, used with respect to the 10
173	173	rights and procedures described in section 3(b), 11
174	174	means providing rights and procedures that are 12
175	175	equivalent to or greater than each of the rights and 13
176	176	procedures described in such section. 14
177	177	(14) S
178	178	UPERVISORY EMPLOYEE .—The term ‘‘su-15
179	179	pervisory employee’’ means an individual, employed 16
180	180	by a public employer, who in any workweek is en-17
181	181	gaged in commerce or is employed in an enterprise 18
182	182	engaged in commerce and who— 19
183	183	(A) has the authority in the interest of the 20
184	184	employer, if the exercise of such authority is 21
185	185	not merely routine or clerical in nature but re-22
186	186	quires the consistent exercise of independent 23
187	187	judgment, to— 24
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190	190	•S 1352 IS
191	191	(i) hire, promote, reward, transfer, 1
192	192	furlough, lay off, recall, suspend, dis-2
193	193	cipline, or remove public employees; 3
194	194	(ii) adjust the grievances of public 4
195	195	employees; or 5
196	196	(iii) effectively recommend any action 6
197	197	described in clause (i) or (ii); and 7
198	198	(B) devotes a majority of time at work to 8
199	199	exercising the authority under subparagraph 9
200	200	(A). 10
201	201	(b) F
202	202	AIRLABORSTANDARDS ACT OF 1938 11
203	203	T
204	204	ERMS.—The terms ‘‘commerce’’, ‘‘employ’’, ‘‘enterprise 12
205	205	engaged in commerce’’, and ‘‘State’’ have the meanings 13
206	206	given such terms in section 3 of the Fair Labor Standards 14
207	207	Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203). 15
208	208	(c) S
209	209	TATELAW.—If any term defined in this section 16
210	210	has a substantially equivalent meaning to a term (or a 17
211	211	substantially equivalent term) under applicable State law 18
212	212	on the date of the enactment of this Act, such term (or 19
213	213	substantially equivalent term) and meaning under such 20
214	214	applicable State law shall apply with respect to the term 21
215	215	defined under this Act with respect to such State. 22
216	216	SEC. 3. FEDERAL MINIMUM STANDARDS. 23
217	217	(a) D
218	218	ETERMINATION.— 24
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221	221	•S 1352 IS
222	222	(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 1
223	223	after the date of enactment of this Act (except as 2
224	224	provided in paragraph (4)(C)), the Authority shall 3
225	225	make a determination for each State as to whether 4
226	226	the laws of such State substantially provide for each 5
227	227	of the rights and procedures under subsection (b) 6
228	228	and not later than 30 days after the enactment of 7
229	229	this Act, the Authority shall establish procedures for 8
230	230	the implementation of this section. 9
231	231	(2) C
232	232	ONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONAL OPIN -10
233	233	IONS.—In making the determination under para-11
234	234	graph (1), the Authority shall consider the opinions 12
235	235	of affected public employees, supervisory employees, 13
236	236	labor organizations, and public employers. In the 14
237	237	case where the Authority is notified by an affected 15
238	238	public employer and labor organization that both 16
239	239	parties agree that the law applicable to such em-17
240	240	ployer and labor organization substantially provides 18
241	241	for the rights and procedures described in subsection 19
242	242	(b), the Authority shall give such agreement weight 20
243	243	to the maximum extent practicable in making the 21
244	244	Authority’s determination under paragraph (1). 22
245	245	(3) L
246	246	IMITED CRITERIA.—In making the deter-23
247	247	mination described in paragraph (1), the Authority 24
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250	250	•S 1352 IS
251	251	may only consider the criteria described in sub-1
252	252	section (b). 2
253	253	(4) S
254	254	UBSEQUENT DETERMINATIONS .— 3
255	255	(A) I
256	256	N GENERAL.—A determination made 4
257	257	pursuant to paragraph (1) shall remain in ef-5
258	258	fect unless and until the Authority issues a sub-6
259	259	sequent determination, in accordance with the 7
260	260	procedures set forth in subparagraph (B). 8
261	261	(B) R
262	262	EQUEST.—A public employee, super-9
263	263	visory employee, public employer, or a labor or-10
264	264	ganization may submit to the Authority a writ-11
265	265	ten request for a subsequent determination with 12
266	266	respect to whether a material change of State 13
267	267	law has occurred. 14
268	268	(C) I
269	269	SSUANCE.—If satisfied that a mate-15
270	270	rial change in State law has occurred, the Au-16
271	271	thority shall issue a subsequent determination 17
272	272	described under paragraph (1) not later than 18
273	273	30 days after receipt of such request. 19
274	274	(5) J
275	275	UDICIAL REVIEW.—Any covered person or 20
276	276	public employer aggrieved by a determination of the 21
277	277	Authority under this paragraph (1) may, during the 22
278	278	60-day period beginning on the date on which the 23
279	279	determination was made, petition any United States 24
280	280	Court of Appeals in the circuit in which the covered 25
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283	283	•S 1352 IS
284	284	person or public employer resides or transacts busi-1
285	285	ness or in the Court of Appeals for the District of 2
286	286	Columbia Circuit, for judicial review. In any judicial 3
287	287	review of a determination made by the Authority de-4
288	288	scribed in paragraph (1), the procedures contained 5
289	289	in subsections (c) and (d) of section 7123 of title 5, 6
290	290	United States Code, shall be followed. 7
291	291	(6) R
292	292	ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—In making the 8
293	293	determination described in paragraph (1), the Au-9
294	294	thority shall, as relevant, consider any requirement 10
295	295	imposed by a consent decree entered into by the De-11
296	296	partment of Justice before, on, or after the date of 12
297	297	enactment of this Act as substantially providing for 13
298	298	the rights and procedures under subsection (b). 14
299	299	(b) F
300	300	EDERALMINIMUMSTANDARD.—The collective 15
301	301	bargaining rights and procedures under this subsection 16
302	302	are as follows: 17
303	303	(1) A right of public employees and supervisory 18
304	304	employees— 19
305	305	(A) to self-organization; 20
306	306	(B) to form, join, or assist a labor organi-21
307	307	zation or to refrain from any such activity; 22
308	308	(C) to bargain collectively through rep-23
309	309	resentatives of their own choosing; and 24
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312	312	•S 1352 IS
313	313	(D) to engage in other concerted activities 1
314	314	for the purpose of collective bargaining or other 2
315	315	mutual aid (including the filing of joint, class, 3
316	316	or collective legal claims) or protection. 4
317	317	(2) A requirement for public employers to— 5
318	318	(A) recognize the labor organization of its 6
319	319	public employees and supervisory employees 7
320	320	(freely chosen in an election by a majority of 8
321	321	such employees voting in the appropriate unit 9
322	322	or chosen by voluntary recognition if that meth-10
323	323	od is permitted under State law) without re-11
324	324	quiring an election to recertify or decertify a 12
325	325	labor organization that is already recognized as 13
326	326	the representative of such employees unless not 14
327	327	less than 30 percent of such employees in the 15
328	328	bargaining unit freely sign a petition to decer-16
329	329	tify such labor organization— 17
330	330	(i) not earlier than the date that is 1 18
331	331	year after the date of the election (or after 19
332	332	a voluntary recognition if permitted under 20
333	333	State law) of the representative; 21
334	334	(ii) not earlier than 1 year after the 22
335	335	expiration of a valid collective bargaining 23
336	336	agreement; 24
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339	339	•S 1352 IS
340	340	(iii) not during the term of a valid col-1
341	341	lective bargaining agreement (except as 2
342	342	permissible under clause (iv)); or 3
343	343	(iv) during the 30-day period begin-4
344	344	ning on the date that is 90 days before the 5
345	345	end of a valid existing contract; 6
346	346	(B) collectively bargain with such recog-7
347	347	nized labor organization; and 8
348	348	(C) commit any agreements with such rec-9
349	349	ognized labor organization to writing in a con-10
350	350	tract or memorandum of understanding. 11
351	351	(3) An interest impasse resolution mechanism, 12
352	352	such as fact-finding, mediation, arbitration, or com-13
353	353	parable procedures that culminate in binding resolu-14
354	354	tion. 15
355	355	(4) Payroll deduction of labor organization fees 16
356	356	for any duly chosen representative of a public em-17
357	357	ployee or supervisory employee pursuant to the 18
358	358	terms of an agreement between the labor organiza-19
359	359	tion and such public or supervisory employee, which 20
360	360	shall remain in effect until revoked by such employee 21
361	361	in accordance with its terms. 22
362	362	(5) The prohibition of practices that interfere 23
363	363	with, restrain, or coerce public or supervisory em-24
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366	366	•S 1352 IS
367	367	ployees in the exercise of rights guaranteed in para-1
368	368	graph (1) or regulations issued thereunder. 2
369	369	(6) The enforcement of all relevant rights and 3
370	370	procedures provided by State law and enumerated in 4
371	371	this subsection. 5
372	372	(7) The enforcement of all rights and proce-6
373	373	dures provided by any written contract or memo-7
374	374	randum of understanding between a labor organiza-8
375	375	tion and a public employer, through— 9
376	376	(A) a State agency, if the State so chooses; 10
377	377	(B) at the election of an aggrieved party, 11
378	378	the State courts, if so permitted under State 12
379	379	law; or 13
380	380	(C) a grievance resolution procedure culmi-14
381	381	nating in binding arbitration negotiated in such 15
382	382	contract or memorandum. 16
383	383	(c) C
384	384	OMPLIANCE WITHRIGHTS AND PROCE-17
385	385	DURES.—If the Authority determines under subsection 18
386	386	(a)(1) that the laws of a State substantially provide each 19
387	387	of the rights and procedures described in subsection (b), 20
388	388	then subsection (d) shall not apply and this Act shall not 21
389	389	preempt the laws of such State. 22
390	390	(d) F
391	391	AILURETOSUBSTANTIALLYPROVIDE.— 23
392	392	(1) I
393	393	N GENERAL.—If the Authority determines 24
394	394	under subsection (a)(1) that the laws of a State do 25
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397	397	•S 1352 IS
398	398	not substantially provide for each of the rights and 1
399	399	procedures described in subsection (b), then such 2
400	400	State shall be subject to the rules and activities of 3
401	401	the Authority under section 4 beginning on the later 4
402	402	of— 5
403	403	(A) the date that is 2 years after the date 6
404	404	of enactment of this Act; 7
405	405	(B) the date that is the last day of the 8
406	406	first regular session of the legislature of the 9
407	407	State that begins after the date of the enact-10
408	408	ment of this Act; or 11
409	409	(C) in the case of a State receiving a sub-12
410	410	sequent determination described under sub-13
411	411	section (a)(4), the date that is the last day of 14
412	412	the first regular session of the legislature of the 15
413	413	State that begins after the date the Authority 16
414	414	made the determination. 17
415	415	(2) P
416	416	ARTIAL FAILURE.—If the Authority deter-18
417	417	mines under subsection (a)(1) that a State does not 19
418	418	substantially provide for each of the rights and pro-20
419	419	cedures described in subsection (b) because the 21
420	420	State fails to substantially provide for all of such 22
421	421	rights and procedures with respect to any public or 23
422	422	supervisory employees, the Authority shall identify— 24
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425	425	•S 1352 IS
426	426	(A) the categories of public or supervisory 1
427	427	employees of such State that shall be subject to 2
428	428	the rules and activities of the Authority under 3
429	429	section 4, pursuant to section 7(b)(4), begin-4
430	430	ning on the applicable date under paragraph 5
431	431	(1); 6
432	432	(B) the categories of public employees and 7
433	433	supervisory employees of such State that shall 8
434	434	not be subject to the rules and activities of the 9
435	435	Authority under section 4; 10
436	436	(C) the categories of rights and procedures 11
437	437	described in subsection (b) for which the State 12
438	438	does not substantially provide for certain public 13
439	439	employees and supervisory employees; and 14
440	440	(D) the categories of rights and procedures 15
441	441	described in such subsection for which the State 16
442	442	substantially provides for all employees. 17
443	443	SEC. 4. MINIMUM STANDARDS ADMINISTERED BY THE FED-18
444	444	ERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY. 19
445	445	(a) I
446	446	NGENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 20
447	447	date of enactment of this Act, the Authority shall issue 21
448	448	rules and take such actions that the Authority determines 22
449	449	appropriate to establish and administer collective bar-23
450	450	gaining rights and procedures that substantially provide 24
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453	453	•S 1352 IS
454	454	for the minimum standards described in section 3(b) for 1
455	455	States described in section 3(d). 2
456	456	(b) R
457	457	OLE OF THEFEDERALLABORRELATIONSAU-3
458	458	THORITY.— 4
459	459	(1) I
460	460	N GENERAL.—In carrying out subsection 5
461	461	(a), the Authority shall— 6
462	462	(A) provide for the rights and procedures 7
463	463	described in paragraphs (1) through (5) of sec-8
464	464	tion 3(b); 9
465	465	(B) supervise or conduct elections to deter-10
466	466	mine whether a labor organization has been 11
467	467	chosen as an exclusive representative by a ma-12
468	468	jority of the public employees and supervisory 13
469	469	employees voting in such election in an appro-14
470	470	priate unit; 15
471	471	(C) determine the appropriateness of units 16
472	472	for labor organization representation; 17
473	473	(D) conduct hearings and resolve com-18
474	474	plaints concerning violations of this Act or any 19
475	475	rule or order issued by the Authority pursuant 20
476	476	to this Act; 21
477	477	(E) resolve exceptions to the awards of ar-22
478	478	bitrators that violate or exceed the scope of 23
479	479	public policy of this Act; and 24
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482	482	•S 1352 IS
483	483	(F) take such other actions as are nec-1
484	484	essary and appropriate to effectively administer 2
485	485	this Act, including issuing subpoenas requiring 3
486	486	the attendance and testimony of witnesses and 4
487	487	the production of documentary or other evi-5
488	488	dence from any place in the United States, ad-6
489	489	ministering oaths, taking or ordering the taking 7
490	490	of depositions, ordering responses to written in-8
491	491	terrogatories, and receiving and examining wit-9
492	492	nesses. 10
493	493	(2) R
494	494	ULE OF CONSTRUCTION .—In providing for 11
495	495	the rights and procedures under paragraph (1)(A), 12
496	496	nothing in this Act shall be construed as super-13
497	497	seding, or creating or imposing any requirement in 14
498	498	conflict with, any consent decree entered into by the 15
499	499	Department of Justice before, on, or after the date 16
500	500	of enactment of this Act. 17
501	501	(c) E
502	502	NFORCEMENT.— 18
503	503	(1) I
504	504	N GENERAL.—The Authority may issue an 19
505	505	order directing compliance by any covered person or 20
506	506	public employer found to be in violation of this sec-21
507	507	tion, and may petition any United States Court of 22
508	508	Appeals with jurisdiction over the parties, or the 23
509	509	United States Court of Appeals for the District of 24
510	510	Columbia Circuit, to enforce any such final orders 25
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513	513	•S 1352 IS
514	514	issued pursuant to this section or pursuant to rules 1
515	515	issued under this section, and for appropriate tem-2
516	516	porary relief or a restraining order. Any covered per-3
517	517	son or public employer aggrieved by an order issued 4
518	518	by the Authority under this section may, during the 5
519	519	60-day period beginning on the date on which the 6
520	520	order was issued petition any United States Court of 7
521	521	Appeals in the circuit which the covered person or 8
522	522	public employer resides or transacts business or in 9
523	523	the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia 10
524	524	Circuit, for judicial review. Any petition or appeal 11
525	525	under this section shall be conducted in accordance 12
526	526	with subsections (c) and (d) of section 7123 of title 13
527	527	5, United States Code. 14
528	528	(2) P
529	529	RIVATE RIGHT OF ACTION.— 15
530	530	(A) F
531	531	ILING A CIVIL ACTION.—Unless the 16
532	532	Authority has filed an order of enforcement as 17
533	533	provided in paragraph (1), any party may, after 18
534	534	the 180-day period following the filing of a 19
535	535	charge with the Authority pursuant to the rules 20
536	536	of the Authority under this section, file a civil 21
537	537	action against any named State administrator 22
538	538	in an appropriate district court of the United 23
539	539	States to enjoin such administrator to enforce 24
540	540	compliance— 25
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543	543	•S 1352 IS
544	544	(i) with this Act or the rules issued by 1
545	545	the Authority under this section; or 2
546	546	(ii) to enforce compliance with any 3
547	547	order issued by the Authority. 4
548	548	(B) T
549	549	IMING.—Any civil action brought 5
550	550	under subparagraph (A) shall be brought not 6
551	551	later than the earlier of— 7
552	552	(i) the date that is 180 days after the 8
553	553	expiration of the 180-day period in sub-9
554	554	paragraph (A); or 10
555	555	(ii) the date that is 180 days after the 11
556	556	date that the Authority dismisses a charge 12
557	557	described in subparagraph (A). 13
558	558	(C) N
559	559	OTICE.—The party shall serve notice 14
560	560	of the Federal lawsuit to the Authority. 15
561	561	(D) J
562	562	URISDICTION AND ATTORNEYS ’ 16
563	563	FEES.—A district court shall have jurisdiction 17
564	564	over the civil action filed under subparagraph 18
565	565	(A) without regard to the amount in con-19
566	566	troversy or the citizenship of the parties and 20
567	567	may award reasonable attorneys’ fees. 21
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570	570	•S 1352 IS
571	571	SEC. 5. LOCKOUTS AND EMPLOYEE STRIKES PROHIBITED 1
572	572	WHEN EMERGENCY OR PUBLIC SAFETY SERV-2
573	573	ICES IMPERILED. 3
574	574	(a) I
575	575	NGENERAL.—Subject to subsection (b), any em-4
576	576	ployer, emergency services employee, or law enforcement 5
577	577	officer, subject to the rules and activities of the Authority 6
578	578	under section 4, may not engage in a lockout, strike, or 7
579	579	any other organized job action of which a reasonably prob-8
580	580	able result is a measurable disruption of the delivery of 9
581	581	emergency or public safety services. No labor organization 10
582	582	may cause or attempt to cause a violation of this sub-11
583	583	section. 12
584	584	(b) N
585	585	OPREEMPTION.—Nothing in this section shall 13
586	586	be construed to preempt any law of any State or political 14
587	587	subdivision of any State with respect to strikes by emer-15
588	588	gency services employees or law enforcement officers. 16
589	589	SEC. 6. EXISTING COLLECTIVE BARGAINING UNITS AND 17
590	590	AGREEMENTS. 18
591	591	The enactment of this Act shall not invalidate any 19
592	592	certification, recognition, result of an election, collective 20
593	593	bargaining agreement, or memorandum of understanding 21
594	594	that— 22
595	595	(1) has been issued, approved, or ratified by 23
596	596	any public employee relations board or commission, 24
597	597	or by any State or political subdivision or an agent 25
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600	600	•S 1352 IS
601	601	or management official of such State or political 1
602	602	subdivision; and 2
603	603	(2) is in effect on the day before the date of en-3
604	604	actment of this Act. 4
605	605	SEC. 7. EXCEPTIONS. 5
606	606	(a) I
607	607	NGENERAL.—The Authority shall not make a 6
608	608	determination under section 3(a)(1) that the laws of a 7
609	609	State do not substantially provide for the rights and proce-8
610	610	dures under section 3(b) on the basis that relevant State 9
611	611	laws— 10
612	612	(1) permit a public or supervisory employee to 11
613	613	appear on the employee’s own behalf with respect to 12
614	614	the relationship of the public employee with the pub-13
615	615	lic employer involved; 14
616	616	(2) do not cover public or supervisory employees 15
617	617	of the State militia or national guard; 16
618	618	(3) do not apply to a political subdivision of a 17
619	619	State if— 18
620	620	(A) such political subdivision has a popu-19
621	621	lation of fewer than 5,000 people or employs 20
622	622	fewer than 25 public employees; and 21
623	623	(B) the State in which such political sub-22
624	624	division is located notifies the Authority that 23
625	625	such subdivision is exempt from such laws be-24
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628	628	•S 1352 IS
629	629	fore the date on which the Authority makes the 1
630	630	determination; or 2
631	631	(4) do not require bargaining with respect to 3
632	632	pension or retirement income benefits. 4
633	633	(b) C
634	634	OMPLIANCE.— 5
635	635	(1) A
636	636	CTIONS OF STATES.—Nothing in this Act 6
637	637	shall be construed to require a State to rescind or 7
638	638	preempt the laws of any political subdivision of the 8
639	639	State if such laws substantially provide for the 9
640	640	rights and procedures described in section 3(b). 10
641	641	(2) A
642	642	CTIONS OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUM -11
643	643	BIA.—Nothing in this Act or in the rules issued 12
644	644	under this Act shall be construed— 13
645	645	(A) to require the District of Columbia to 14
646	646	rescind— 15
647	647	(i) section 501 of the District of Co-16
648	648	lumbia Government Comprehensive Merit 17
649	649	Personnel Act of 1978 (1–605.01, D.C. 18
650	650	Official Code), establishing the Public Em-19
651	651	ployee Relations Board of the District of 20
652	652	Columbia; or 21
653	653	(ii) section 502 of such Act (1– 22
654	654	605.02, D.C. Official Code), establishing 23
655	655	the power of the Board; 24
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658	658	•S 1352 IS
659	659	(B) to preempt the laws described in sub-1
660	660	paragraph (A); or 2
661	661	(C) to limit or alter the powers of the gov-3
662	662	ernment of the District of Columbia pursuant 4
663	663	to the District of Columbia Home Rule Act 5
664	664	(Public Law 93–198; 87 Stat. 774). 6
665	665	(3) A
666	666	CTIONS OF THE AUTHORITY .—Nothing in 7
667	667	this Act shall be construed to preempt— 8
668	668	(A) the laws of any State or political sub-9
669	669	division of a State that substantially provide for 10
670	670	the rights and procedures described in section 11
671	671	3(b); 12
672	672	(B) the laws of any State or political sub-13
673	673	division of a State that substantially provide for 14
674	674	the rights and procedures described in section 15
675	675	3(b), solely because such laws provide that a 16
676	676	contract or memorandum of understanding be-17
677	677	tween a public employer and a labor organiza-18
678	678	tion must be presented to a legislative body as 19
679	679	part of the process for approving such contract 20
680	680	or memorandum of understanding; or 21
681	681	(C) the laws of any State or political sub-22
682	682	division of a State that permit or require a pub-23
683	683	lic employer to recognize a labor organization 24
684	684	on the basis of signed authorizations executed 25
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687	687	•S 1352 IS
688	688	by employees designating the labor organization 1
689	689	as their representative. 2
690	690	(4) L
691	691	IMITED ENFORCEMENT POWER .—In the 3
692	692	case of a law described in section 3(d)(2), the Au-4
693	693	thority shall only exercise the authority under sec-5
694	694	tion 4 with respect to the categories of public or su-6
695	695	pervisory employees for whom State law does not 7
696	696	substantially provide the rights and procedures de-8
697	697	scribed in section 3(b). 9
698	698	SEC. 8. SEVERABILITY. 10
699	699	If any provision of this Act or the application thereof 11
700	700	to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remain-12
701	701	der of this Act, or the application of that provision to per-13
702	702	sons or circumstances other than those as to which it is 14
703	703	held invalid, is not affected thereby. 15
704	704	SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 16
705	705	There are authorized to be appropriated such sums 17
706	706	as may be necessary to carry out this Act. 18
707	707	Æ
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