Today, the House is voting on H.R. 980, the so-called "Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act." This bill would federally unionize every single firefighter, police officer, and emergency medical technician in the country. The Federal Labor Relations Authority would have oversight of the labor-management laws of public safety workers in every city, county, and state - stripping localities of the right to govern themselves.

Currently each state has broad authority to set its own policy regarding the unionization of state and local government employees, including public-safety officers. Texas, along with 21 other states, is a right to work state, which means each individual employee gets to decide whether or not to join a union. This means that Big Labor cannot fire employees in Texas for refusing to join or pay dues to an unwanted union. Right to work status gives Texas greater economic vitality with faster growth in manufacturing and nonagricultural jobs, lower unemployment rates, and fewer work stoppages. However, if H.R. 980 is signed into law by the President, Texas' state law and the right to work would be negated.

The Democrats keep finding ways to say thank you to Big Labor, and this bill is just another in a long list of bad bills.

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