Congress·In Committee·S. 1352

Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act of 2025

Senate Bill Would Set National Minimum Bargaining Rights for State and Local Public Workers

about 1 year ago·View on Congress.gov·Read full text

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Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

Legislative Progress

Senate

House

President

Law

Key Points

Would set a nationwide “floor” for collective bargaining rights for state and local public workers, like teachers and many city or state employees.
A federal labor agency would review each state’s laws within 180 days of the bill becoming law to see if they meet these minimum rights.
If a state falls short, the federal agency would step in after a delay (generally up to about 2 years) to run elections, handle complaints, and enforce bargaining rules.
The bill calls for tools to settle contract stalemates (like mediation or arbitration) and protects paycheck deductions for union fees when an employee agrees.
Strikes and lockouts that could disrupt emergency or public safety services would be banned under the federal system, while tougher state strike rules could still apply.

Labor Employment

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

How this policy affects specific groups of people

Positive Impacts(1)

Union Member

Helps

State Impacts

District of ColumbiaDC

neutral

The bill explicitly says it does not require DC to rescind or change its Public Employee Relations Board structure and does not limit DC’s Home Rule powers. DC’s existing public-sector bargaining system is largely protected from being overridden by the new federal scheme.

Milestones

2 milestones2 actions

Apr 8, 2025Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.

Apr 8, 2025

Introduced in Senate

The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.

Votes

No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.

Related News

1 article

AFL-CIO News·about 2 months ago

Despite Relentless Attacks, Nearly Half a Million Workers Unionized in 2025

Reporting on new BLS data, labor leaders renewed calls for Congress to pass the Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act to protect the rights of public sector workers who saw significant membership growth despite political opposition.

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