Protecting Collective Bargaining and Official Time for Federal Workers Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3583 To provide that certain Executive orders and Presidential memorandum with respect to Federal employee collective bargaining shall have no force or effect, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 25, 2020 Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. BROWN, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. DURBIN, Mr. KAINE, Mr. CASEY, Mr. WARNER, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Ms. HIRONO, Mr. SCHATZ, Mr. BOOKER, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, and Mr. PETERS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs A BILL To provide that certain Executive orders and Presidential memorandum with respect to Federal employee collective bargaining shall have no force or effect, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Collective 4 Bargaining and Official Time for Federal Workers Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:41 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3583.IS S3583 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3583 IS (1) Federal unions play a critical role in pro- 1 tecting the rights of Federal workers by allowing 2 members to have a collective voice on the job and in 3 the legislative process, advance issues for working 4 families, ensure equal opportunities for all workers, 5 and raise the standards by which all professional 6 and technical workers are employed. 7 (2) Collective bargaining is essential to the 8 union process, because it provides mutual agreement 9 between all parties that fosters harmonious relation- 10 ships between the Federal Government and its em- 11 ployees and protects the interest of both parties. 12 (3) The current administration has acted 13 through Executive orders and official memorandums 14 to dismantle Federal unions and undermine their 15 collective bargaining rights across the Federal work- 16 force and these directives have already negatively 17 impacted labor contracts, both signed and under ac- 18 tive negotiation. 19 (4) These orders set an aggressive schedule for 20 unions to engage in collective bargaining, while also 21 slashing the unions official time for performing 22 union duties by over 91 percent in some cases. 23 These actions are limiting the ability for unions to 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:41 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3583.IS S3583 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3583 IS prepare for negotiations and perform their legally re- 1 quired employee representational duties. 2 (5) Section 7101(a) of title 5, United States 3 Code, states that Congress finds that ‘‘labor organi- 4 zations and collective bargaining in the civil service 5 are in the public interest.’’. Attempting to eliminate 6 the union by eliminating almost all its official time 7 repudiates the statutory position that unions are in 8 the public interest. 9 (6) Through these orders, agencies are required 10 to comply with artificial bargaining schedules, which 11 undermine good faith negotiations and divert the de- 12 cision making to an impasse panel, which has no 13 union representation on it and does not represent 14 both parties. 15 (7) Collectively, the administration’s actions 16 have violated congressional intent, undermined the 17 ability of unions to engage in collective bargaining, 18 and threatened the rights and benefits of millions of 19 Federal workers. 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:41 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3583.IS S3583 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3583 IS SEC. 3. NULLIFICATION OF EXECUTIVE ORDERS AND PRES- 1 IDENTIAL MEMORANDUM RELATING TO FED- 2 ERAL EMPLOYEE COLLECTIVE BARGAINING. 3 Each of the following Executive orders and Presi- 4 dential memorandum are rescinded and shall have no force 5 or effect: 6 (1) Executive Order 13837 (83 Fed. Reg. 7 25335; relating to the use of official time). 8 (2) Executive Order 13836 (83 Fed. Reg. 9 25329; relating to Federal collective bargaining). 10 (3) Executive Order 13839 (83 Fed. Reg. 11 25343; relating to the Merit Systems Protection 12 Board). 13 (4) The Presidential Memorandum on the Dele- 14 gation of Certain Authority under the Federal Serv- 15 ice Labor-Management Relations Statute, issued to 16 the Secretary of Defense on January 29, 2020. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:41 Apr 09, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3583.IS S3583 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS