{"data":{"id":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-11-11-51-101","jurisdiction":"us-ok","citation":"Okla. Stat. tit. 11, § 11-51-101","heading":"Public policy of fire and police arbitration law","body":"A. The protection of the public health, safety and welfare\n\ndemands that the permanent members of any paid fire department or\n\npolice department in any municipality not be accorded the right to\n\nstrike or engage in any work stoppage or slowdown. This necessary\n\nprohibition does not, however, require the denial to such employees\n\nof other well-recognized rights of labor such as the right to\n\norganize, to be represented by a collective bargaining\n\nrepresentative of their choice and the right to bargain collectively\n\nconcerning wages, hours and other terms and conditions of\n\nemployment; and such employees shall also have the right to refrain\n\nfrom any and all such activities.\n\nB. It is declared to be the public policy of this state to\n\naccord to the permanent members of any paid fire department or\n\npolice department in any municipality all of the rights of labor,\n\nother than the right to strike or to engage in any work stoppage or\n\nslowdown. Nothing in this article shall constitute a grant of the\n\nright to strike to fire fighters or police officers of any\n\nmunicipality and such strikes are hereby prohibited.\n\nNotwithstanding the provisions of any other law, any person holding\n\nsuch a position who, by concerted action with others and without the\n\nlawful approval of his superior, willfully absents himself from his\n\nposition or abstains in whole or in part from the full, faithful and\n\nproper performance of his duties for the purpose of inducing,\n\ninfluencing or coercing a change in the conditions or compensation,\n\nor the rights, privileges or obligations of employment shall be\n\ndeemed to be on strike but the person, upon request, shall be\n\nentitled to a determination as to whether he did violate the\n\nprovisions of this article. The request shall be filed in writing\n\nwith the officer or body having the power to remove or discipline\n\nsuch employee within ten (10) days after regular compensation of\n\nsuch employee has ceased or other discipline has been imposed. In\n\nthe event of such request, the officer or body shall within ten (10)\n\ndays after the receipt of such request commence a proceeding for the\n\ndetermination of whether the provisions of this article have been\n\nviolated by the public employee, in accordance with the law and\n\nregulations appropriate to a proceeding to remove the public\n\nemployee. The proceedings shall be undertaken without unnecessary\n\ndelay. The decision of the proceeding shall be made within ten (10)\n\ndays following the conclusion of said hearing. If the employee\n\ninvolved is held to have violated this article and his employment\n\nterminated or other discipline imposed, he shall have the right of\n\nreview to the district court having jurisdiction of the parties,\n\nwithin thirty (30) days from such decision, for determination\n\nwhether such decision is supported by competent, material and\n\nsubstantial evidence on the whole record. To provide for the\n\nexercise of these rights, a method of arbitration of disputes is\n\nhereby established.\n\nC. It is declared to be the public policy of the State of\n\nOklahoma that no person shall be discharged from or denied\n\nemployment as a member of any paid fire department or police\n\ndepartment in any municipality of this state by reason of membership\n\nor nonmembership in, or the payment or nonpayment of any dues, fees\n\nor other charges to, an organization of such members for collective\n\nbargaining purposes as herein contemplated.\n\nD. The establishment of this method of arbitration shall not,\n\nhowever, in any way whatever, be deemed to be a recognition by the\n\nstate of compulsory arbitration as a superior method of settling\n\nlabor disputes between employees who possess the right to strike and\n\ntheir employers, but rather shall be deemed to be a recognition\n\nsolely of the necessity to provide some alternative procedure for\nll not,\n\nhowever, in any way whatever, be deemed to be a recognition by the\n\nstate of compulsory arbitration as a superior method of settling\n\nlabor disputes between employees who possess the right to strike and\n\ntheir employers, but rather shall be deemed to be a recognition\n\nsolely of the necessity to provide some alternative procedure for\n\nsettling disputes where employees must, as a matter of public\n\npolicy, be denied the usual right to strike.","path":["OK Code","Title 11"],"source_url":"https://www.oklegislature.gov/OK_Statutes/CompleteTitles/os11.pdf","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:36Z","sha256":"8b9aa715f8582a47818052941e086015d54b11b140f1bb71f7dcf02f172e17da","source_id":"us-ok","stale":false,"prev":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-11-11-50-136.9","next":"us-ok/okla.-stat.-tit.-11-11-51-102"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}