Dear Representative:
On behalf of the undersigned unions, we urge you to co-sponsor the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act (H.R. 3463). Introduced by Representative Matt Cartwright, Representative Abby Finkenauer, and Representative Frederica Wilson, this legislation sets a minimum nationwide standard of collective bargaining rights that states must provide to public sector workers.
Unlike the private sector, there is no federal law that protects the freedom of state and local public service workers to join in a union and collectively bargain for fair wages, hours, and working conditions. Despite this lack of protection and the constant attacks on public sector employees, unions are more popular than ever and provide working people with a voice on the job and the power to act collectively.
It’s time to even the playing field for working people and public servants by passing the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act. The legislation will ensure that dedicated public employees working every day to improve their communities have the right to:
- Join together in a union selected by a majority vote;
- Collectively bargain over wages, hours, and terms, and conditions of employment;
- Access dispute resolution mechanisms;
- Utilize voluntary payroll deduction for union dues;
- Engage in concerted activities related to collective bargaining and mutual aid;
- Have their union be free from requirements to hold rigged recertification elections; and
- File suit in court to enforce their labor rights.
To become a co-sponsor of the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act, please contact Stephen Coffey ([email protected]) in the office of Representative Matt Cartwright.
Sincerely,
American Federation of Labor & Congress of Industrial Organizations
American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees
American Federation of Teachers
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
Association of Flight Attendants-CWA
United Mine Workers of America
International Union of Painters & Allied Trades of the United States & Canada
Laborers’ International Union of North America Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers International Union
American Postal Workers Union
National Education Association
American Federation of Government Employees
National Association of Letter Carriers
International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers
North America’s Building Trades Unions
National Federation of Federal Employees
United Automobile, Aerospace & Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union
International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail & Transportation Workers
International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail & Transportation Workers, Transportation Division
Air Line Pilots Association
United Steel, Paper & Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial & Service Workers
International Union
National Air Traffic Controllers Association
UNITE-HERE
United Association of Journeyman and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the
United States and Canada
Utility Workers Union of America
Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ International Association of the United States & Canada
Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen
International Federation of Professional & Technical Engineers
United Food & Commercial Workers
International Longshoremen’s Association
International Organization of Master, Mates & Pilots
Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association
Communications Workers of America
Union Veterans Council
Professional Aviation Safety Specialists
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO
International Union of Operating Engineers
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers & Helpers
Amalgamated Transit Union
Seafarers International Union of North America
American Federation of School Administrators
Transportation Communications International Union-IAM
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied
Crafts of the United States, its Territories & Canada
Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television & Radio Artists
American Guild of Variety Artists
Guild of Italian American Actors
American Federation of Musicians of the United States & Canada
International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental & Reinforcing Iron Workers
National Postal Mail Handlers Union
Metal Trades Department, AFL-CIO
Working America
Transport Workers Union of America