Public Employees Unite to Oppose Anti-Labor Proposal

Wisconsin's public employees are uniting against a legislative proposal that WEAC Collective Bargaining Director Mike McNett said is "nothing short of an all-out attack on collective bargaining and local public employees."

Representatives from WEAC and other labor unions testified November 3, 2003, at a legislative hearing against a bill that would dramatically change the state's collective bargaining laws.

AB 598 makes wide-ranging changes to the state's collective bargaining laws, greatly tipping the balance of power in collective bargaining in favor of employers.

"For educators in public schools, this legislation is especially offensive because compensation and collective bargaining have been severely hampered for nearly a decade under the Qualified Economic Offer law and revenue caps," McNett told the Assembly Labor Committee. "This bill comes at a time when Wisconsin teacher salaries have slipped below the national average, school districts throughout the state are struggling to recruit and retain quality teachers, and technical colleges are working to jump-start our faltering economy."

WEAC is fighting AB 598 on several fronts. The bill is part of a package of changes to the Municipal Employment Relations Act. The measure is proposed by Rep. Mark Gottlieb of Port Washington and Sen. Ron Brown of Eau Claire.

WEAC is part of a coalition of public employee unions working to oppose AB 598 and its companion bill in the Senate.

WEAC members have stepped up pressure on legislators as well. Hundreds of WEAC members have used the OnWEAC Cyberlobby, asking their legislators to oppose the plan. The Cyberlobby is accessible through the OnWEAC Members Only site.

"That input is priceless,"WEAC President Stan Johnson said. "Legislators listen to their constituents. Member activism is crucial as we battle an anti-union, anti-public education Legislature in the next few months."

At Monday's hearing, McNett told legislators that if AB 598 became law, Wisconsin's system of impartial binding arbitration "would be thrown out the window."

He said the current system is designed to prevent work stoppages by public employees who provide essential public services.

"The potential for strikes would be greatly increased in the absence of a fair system of dispute resolution," he said. "Wisconsin is No. 1 in the nation for highly qualified teachers, but No. 23 for teacher pay. That is a wrong that must be righted. Our technical college system is among the best in the nation. The best educators in the country deserve a fair collective bargaining system that rewards them for the work they do."

Professional Firefighters of Wisconsin President Rick Gale told the committee his members feel they are being attacked by the legislation.

"This bill shifts costs on the backs of public employees," he said. Gale said the proposal does not address the real cause of concern for local governments and their employees: the health care cost crisis.

He said the bill "doesn't do one thing"to address skyrocketing health care costs.

Representatives of the City of Milwaukee told the committee the city's Judiciary and Legislation Committee has taken a position in opposition to the bill unless it is amended.

According to prepared testimony, the city's primary concern with the bill is the fact that its changes do not apply to the city's police department.

The city is also concerned that the bill would limit arbitrators to comparing wages, hours and working conditions of employment with workers in the same community, not other comparable communities.

"This limitation makes valid comparisons impossible in many cases, and puts Milwaukee at a significant disadvantage," according to the testimony.

The city also opposes a provision that allows for back pay only if the arbitrator accepts a union's offer.

The Wisconsin Association of School Boards registered in favor of the bill at the hearing.

The bill would:

• Prohibit arbitrators from comparing the pay of employees with those of employees in other communities, limiting comparisons to the pay of other workers in their own communities.
  
  
• Make employer decisions to privatize or subcontract services a prohibited subject of bargaining.
  
  
• Restrict awards of back pay in disputes to those where the union's offer is accepted.
  
  
• Require arbitrators to consider the impact of settlement proposals on the tax levy, "with an effort to avoiding settlements that cannot be funded without raising the local property tax."
  
  
• Require arbitrators to specify in writing the factors used in making an award.
  
  
• Exempt Milwaukee police from these provisions.

"Rather than support efforts to destroy local bargaining, we will continue to work for a system that rewards educators, school boards, administrators, parents and the entire community for working together, collectively, to keep our schools great," McNett said.

Posted November 3, 2003