All provisions of this chapter applicable to employees described in section 20.3, subsection 11, shall be applicable on the same terms and to the same degree to any transit employee if it is determined by the director of the department of transportation, upon written confirmation from the United States department of labor, that a public employer would lose federal funding under 49 U.S.C. § 5333(b) if the transit employee is not covered under certain collective bargaining rights.