H.R. 980 LEGISLATIVE ALERT:
The Senate will be holding the first procedural vote on H.R. 980, our collective bargaining bill, on Tuesday, 13 May!!!

CALL FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION: All F.O.P. members should call their Senators at their Washington offices (or through the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121) and urge them to vote in favor of cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 980, the "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act."

The vote on Tuesday morning will be the first of several votes that we will need to win in order to get this bill to the President's desk. The "motion to proceed" is a procedural vote that will "start the clock" on debate on the bill. The motion to proceed will be the target of a filibuster, so we will need sixty (60) votes to win.

This is a procedural vote, so even if your Senators are not willing to vote in favor of final passage on the legislation, ask them to vote in favor of cloture on the motion to proceed!!!

It is also important to know and be able to counter the arguments against the bill. You should emphasize that the bill does not require binding arbitration, protects existing right-to-work laws, and specifically prohibits strikes and lockouts. The legislation merely requires that States “substantially provide” for the following rights and responsibilities:

• the right to form and join a labor organization;
• the right to bargain over hours, wages, and the terms and conditions of employment; and
• the availability of an “interest impasse resolution mechanism such as fact-finding, mediation, arbitration, or comparable procedures"

Additional talking points to use when making your case:

Last July, H.R. 980, was favorably reported by the House Committee on Education and Labor on a 42-1 vote. Later that same month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bill on a 314-97 vote.
The House bill won a majority of votes from BOTH party caucuses.
The bottom line for both public safety employers and employees is not profit for shareholders, but to best ensure the safety of the officers, to bring them home safely at the end of their shift and to deliver emergency services in the fastest and most efficient way possible.
It is irresponsible and offensive to suggest that collective bargaining would impede or jeopardize the ability of law enforcement officers to do their jobs. Their lives are on the line everyday, agreement or no agreement and to suggest that response to a critical incident would be used as a bargaining chip is reprehensible.

You can get additional information on the bill, and can direct Senate staff to, the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on the Grand Lodge website: http://www.fop.net/legislative/issues/bargain/hr980faq.pdf

If any of the Senator's staff that you speak with have additional questions about the legislation, tell them to contact Tim Richardson at in the FOP's National Legislative Office at 202-547-8189.

This is our chance to pass H.R. 980 and we need your help!!! The IACP and National Sheriffs' Association are working and calling the Hill urging Senators to kill this bill. Without grassroots activity from the rank-and-file, they could win!

We need all FOP members to CONTACT THEIR SENATORS IN THEIR WASHINGTON, D.C. OFFICE NOW AND ASK THEM TO VOTE IN FAVOR OF CLOTURE ON THE MOTION TO PROCEED TO H.R. 980, THE "PUBLIC SAFETY EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE COOPERATION ACT"!!! CALL NOW AND WATCH YOUR EMAIL AND THE FOP WEBSITE FOR ADDITIONAL LEGISLATIVE ALERTS!!!