The current lame-duck session of Congress has produced another attempt by the federal government to intrude on the business of cities and states.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid plans to introduce a cloture vote on the so-called Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, which passed in the House in 2007. Such a vote would limit debate and allow for a chance at swift passage.
We’ve been told that Reid intends to have a vote on the act Thursday.
If passed, the act would require that public safety workers be granted collective bargaining rights without voter approval. Essentially, it would federalize the local collective bargaining process and force cities into negotiating with unions representing police, firefighters and other public safety officers.
In doing so, it would reverse 75 years of labor law and clash with Colorado’s workable system. It also would overturn laws in 19 other states.
In Colorado, state and local governments already recognize collective bargaining of employees as long as voters approve it.
The National League of Cities, which is meeting in Denver this week, and the Colorado Municipal League understandably oppose the act.
Besides stripping away local control, such a measure amounts to an unfunded mandate that could drive up taxes for Coloradans.
Obviously, with the national unemployment rate just over 9 percent, and given the slow recovery, Reid’s timing is far off the mark.
Colorado’s long-standing system works well and fits nicely with our communities. It doesn’t need a one-size-fits-all federal fix.
Just because a public vote is required doesn’t mean the system is stacked against unions. Denver, for example, recognizes unions that represent police and firefighters.
And Longmont voters approved collective bargaining for their public safety employees in 2008.
Other communities, however, have seen it another way. Fort Collins voters chose to say no to collective bargaining with their money.
Either way, we think it ought to be up to voters at the local level, and so we repeat our call for Colorado Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet to again stand up for Colorado’s laws and traditions. The senators didn’t support a cloture vote this summer; we hope they won’t now.
As we have noted, Bennet campaigned against what’s broken in Washington. (As an aside, we note that both senators voted this week to fix the broken earmark system, though the effort failed.)
We’d rather not see Washington break what’s working in Colorado and many other states.
