RINGGOLD, Ga. – Catoosa and Whitfield counties have joined a group of Georgia counties trying to stop a federal bill that would give collective bargaining rights to public safety workers.
The Catoosa and Whitfield commissions voted to adopt a resolution circulated by the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.
“We believe this is not a good thing for the citizens,” said Whitfield County Commission Chairman Mike Babb of the bill. “All of our employees have the ultimate negotiating skills in that they can vote us out of office.”
“I’d rather handle local options here locally,” said Catoosa Commission Chairman Keith Greene.
The bill, called the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, would require counties to recognize public safety unions and meet certain standards for collective bargaining with emergency employees, including firefighters and police.
If the standards are not met, the federal government can step in and regulate labor negotiations.
The bill has passed the U.S. House in a war appropriations measure and is in reconciliation with the Senate, said Matthew Hicks, associate legislative director with the Association County Commissioners of Georgia.
Some county officials share the association’s concern. At the very least it’s federal intervention into a local issue, Mr. Hicks said.
“We aren’t sure what problem this is trying to solve in Georgia,” he said. “We think it would end up costing taxpayers more.”
But Dade County Executive Ted Rumley said commissioners haven’t decided whether to take a vote or stay out of it all together.
“There’s a lot for me to read about it before I would go and vote,” said Mr. Rumley, who described himself as pro-union and said his father was in a union as a boilermaker.
Frank Rotondo, director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, retired in New York with police union benefits but is wary of union influence in the Peach State.
“I’m not saying that law enforcement doesn’t deserve good salaries, but it should be based on merit and what the communities can afford,” he said. “Unions have a tendency to protect inferior workers.”
Staff writer Adam Crisp contributed to this story.
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