Tom Harkin: “I wish to discuss briefly the matter of the collective bargaining for our firefighters and public safety employees. I am…”

“I wish to discuss briefly the matter of the collective bargaining for our firefighters and public safety employees. I am an original cosponsor of S. 2123. Decker Ploehn, the city administrator in Bettendorf, Iowa, wrote me: I have represented both sides of the table [he was police chief at one time] and for the last 18 years have successfully negotiated 5 contracts with our police union because of strong good collective bargaining laws in Iowa. This system has great checks and balances with binding arbitration and a ``no strike'' clause. It causes both sides to come to the table and to make meaningful concessions. We have done so in Bettendorf quite successfully. That is all we're asking for with this legislation--to give public safety officers elsewhere this kind of opportunity. Many of our Federal workers, such as Capitol Police, Border Patrol agents, Customs agents, immigration enforcement officers, have the right of collective bargaining. It helps them to serve our Nation's security interests. Again, it is time that we provide this now to the 21 States where our public safety people are not allowed to bargain collectively. This bill passed the House by 314 to 97. Hopefully, it will pass the Senate with an equally large vote. If you ask any safety officer, they will tell you that they want the tools to do the best job that they can do. These are not the kinds of jobs that people take to get rich.…”