Senate Takes First Steps to Let Police Unionize
May 14, 2008
On Tuesday, May 13, the U.S. Senate gave preliminary approval to the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, a bill that would guarantee police and other first responders the right to unionize. Twenty-two states currently prohibit or restrict collective bargaining rights among police and other public safety workers.
“The protections in this bill are long overdue for many women and men who risk their own safety to guarantee ours,” said David J. Holway, IBPO national president. “At the very least, they deserve a voice in decisions about how to perform their jobs safely and effectively.”
By a vote of 69-29, senators voted to invoke cloture on S.2123, which means opponents won’t be able to mount a successful filibuster against the bill. The Senate will vote later this week on whether to send the bill to President Bush. A statement from the Bush White House said the president’s advisors will recommend he veto the bill, but if Tuesday’s vote margin holds on the full Senate floor, the bill will have veto-proof majority support. (The House of Representatives voted 314-97 last year to support the measure.)
Two of the three remaining presidential candidates were present for the votes on May 13. Democratic Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois both voted to begin full debate on the bill; Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona was not present.