Legislative Correspondence_Public Safety Employer Coop Act 2007- ~.,,
THE CITY OF ~r t
City Manager's Office
City Hall
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-4864
(563) 589-4110 office
(563)589-4149 fax
(563) 690-6678 TDD
ctymgrQcityofdubuque.org
Senator Charles Grassley
United States Senate
135 Hart Office Building
Washington, DC 20510-1501
Dear Senator Grassley,
May 9, 2008
On behalf of the City of Dubuque, Iowa, I urge you to oppose S.2123, the "Public Safety
Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007," which may be brought up for consideration in the
next few days.
The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007 would severely damage the
historic relationships that exist between state and local elected officials, their employees, and
the constituents they represent. The City of Dubuque provides all of its employees with
excellent salaries, benefits and working conditions that are responsive to the fiscal needs and
limitations of our city government, and reflect the priorities of the people Dubuque's elected
officials represent.
This legislation would force states and local governments to adopt federal collective bargaining
standards, disregard existing state laws that were developed to create an effective and efficient
public sector workforce, and place the needs of a select group of workers in front of the larger
needs of the community or other public employees.
In light of the labor protections provided by state laws, labor agreements and civil service
systems and personnel policies, I believe this law is unnecessary at best and potentially very
damaging at worst. The state of Iowa has had an effective collective bargaining law since 1974.
A mandate like the one prescribed in S.2123 would interfere with the existing state law and
usurp fundamental local government decision-making authority over the employment
relationship.
We value our public safety employees, as we do all of our employees. I urge you to oppose
federal mandatory collective bargaining legislation and respect the long-standing principle of
non-interference in employer-employee relations that has existed among federal, state and local
governments.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
~~i'
Michael C. Van Milligen
City Manager
MCVM:jk
Service People Integrity Responsibility Innovation Teamwork
City Manager's Office
City Hall
50 West 13th Street
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-4864
(563) 589-4110 office
(563) 589-4149 fax
(563) 690-6678 TDD
ctymgrQcityofdubuque. org
The Honorable Tom Harkin
United States Senate
731 Hart Building
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Senator Harkin,
THE CITY OF 4, ~
~~~~~
May 9, 2008
On behalf of the City of Dubuque, Iowa, I urge you to oppose S.2123, the "Public Safety
Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007," which may be brought up for consideration in the
next few days.
The Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2007 would severely damage the
historic relationships that exist between state and local elected officials, their employees, and
the constituents they represent. The City of Dubuque provides all of its employees with
excellent salaries, benefits and working conditions that are responsive to the fiscal needs and
limitations of our city government, and reflect the priorities of the people Dubuque's elected
officials represent.
This legislation would force states and local governments to adopt federal collective bargaining
standards, disregard existing state laws that were developed to create an effective and efficient
public sector workforce, and place the needs of a select group of workers in front of the larger
needs of the community or other public employees.
In light of the labor protections provided by state laws, labor agreements and civil service
systems and personnel policies, I believe this law is unnecessary at best and potentially very
damaging at worst. The state of Iowa has had an effective collective bargaining law since 1974.
A mandate like the one prescribed in S.2123 would interfere with the existing state law and
usurp fundamental local government decision-making authority over the employment
relationship.
We value our public safety employees, as we do all of our employees. I urge you to oppose
federal mandatory collective bargaining legislation and respect the long-standing principle of
non-interference in employer-employee relations that has existed among federal, state and local
governments.
Thank you for your consideration.
MCVM:jk
Sincerely,
l/('''~
Michael C. Van Milligen
City Manager
Service People Integrity Responsibility Innovation Teamwork