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One way to stop that porky spending – reduce government worker costs

As we reported on Wednesday, there are a number of bills that have been introduced in the Legislature regarding the entity that is dominating the cost of employing government workers at the State, County, and local levels in Nebraska, the CIR (Commission of Industrial Relations).

In that article, we detailed what the CIR is, how it ties the hands of public employers in negotiating with public employee unions, and how the standard for setting amounts by which workers are compensated are not in any way tied to what the public employer can afford. We gave examples of three recent instances in which negotiations between public employee unions and governments and/or rulings by the CIR resulted in significant pay increases for particular segments of public employees. In one instance, the result had a major role in tax increases in Omaha. The impact of the other two remains to be seen.

As we noted, in Lincoln, the negotiated contract resulted in a 6% – 10% pay increase at a time when many private sector employees are seeing wage cuts, freezes, or at best, meager increases that do not come close. Of course, private sector employees are taxpayers who pay the salaries of all government workers.

Today we received a letter from one of our members, sent to the members of the Nebraska Legislature’s Business and Labor Committee, who will be conducting the hearings for each of the bills introduced that propose various changes and reforms to the CIR.

GiN’s position on this issue is to support the passage of the two measures introduced by District 6 Senator John Nelson, LB664 and LR29CA, both of which the letter below urges Senators to support as both would prohibit collective bargaining for public employees in Nebraska.

To reiterate the difference between the two:

LB664 would repeal existing state laws which provide for collective bargaining between government entities and public employee unions.

LR29CA would provide for a vote by Nebraskans on the November 2012 ballot to include the prohibition in Nebraska’s Constitution, thereby eliminating the possibility that collective bargaining could be reimplemented through a Legislature measure; reimplementation would require another Constitutional Amendment.

Finally, as we pointed out, while prohibition of collective bargaining by public employees is not only the sure way to restore the appropriate methods by which employee compensation should be determined and reduce government budgets at all levels throughout the state, it is definitely controversial. Passage of these measures will require a significant amount of political will from our State Senators, which is, unfortunately, not in great abundance on these issues, particularly due to the strong influence of the unions in our state.

We are currently gathering information that supports the position we are taking. Meanwhile, making contact with the members of the Business and Labor Committee at this time supporting the passage of LB664 and LR29CA is very important.

Thanks to one of our members, we have an example letter that people may find helpful when making contact. Contact information for the members of the Business and Labor Committee is included below.

“Members of the Business and Labor Committee,

I am writing to ask your support for LB664, Repeal the Industrial Relations Act and the State Employees Collective Bargaining Act and prohibit public collective bargaining and work stoppage, and for LR29CA, Constitutional amendment to prohibit government from engaging in collective bargaining.

It is critical in these economic times to balance the desire all of us have as employees to see our wages and benefits increased, with the reality that both local governments and taxpayers are increasingly under financial duress. The current construction of the CIR is not conducive to maintaining this balance. I find it intrinsically unfair, at a time when many of us are accepting wage and benefits freezes, and even cuts, that an entity of state government would pile on to those sacrifices by mandating pay and benefit increases for public union employees that will inevitably lead to higher taxes to the majority of taxpayers, who do not enjoy state-mandated raises.

I recommend the state adopt the construct for pay and benefits negotiation that most of us in the real (non-government-mandated) world live, survive, and even thrive under: Most of our employers determine what they can afford to pay for a given position, and they then allow us a free choice whether to accept the offered pay and benefits, or to seek employment elsewhere with pay and benefits more to our liking.

Both of the bills I am asking you to support will accomplish this end. It is unconscionable for it to be enshrined in state law that one class of citizens, unionized public employees, be given a vehicle (the CIR) with which to demand from the rest of the state’s citizens, regardless of their ability to pay, increases in pay and benefits that are far beyond those the taxpayers who foot the bill are themselves receiving.

I urge you to do your utmost to correct this economic folly and injustice in the most expeditious manner.

Thank you for your service to the citizens of Nebraska”

Included in the email signature with the message:

“The Salvation of the State is Watchfulness in the Citizen.”

Contact information for the members of the Business and Labor Committee:

Chairman: Sen. Steve Lathrop (District 12)
Room #2000
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2623
Email: slathrop@leg.ne.gov

Sen. Brad Ashford (District 20)
Room #1103
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2622
Email: bashford@leg.ne.gov

Sen. Tom Carlson (District 38)
Room #1022
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2732
Email: tcarlson@leg.ne.gov

Sen. Tanya Cook (District 13)
District 13
Room #1208
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2727
Email: tcook@leg.ne.gov

Sen. Burke Harr (District 08)
Room #1115
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2722
Email: bharr@leg.ne.gov

Sen. Jim Smith (District 14)
Room #1115
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2730
Email: jsmith@leg.ne.gov

Sen. Norman Wallman (District 30)
Room #1406
P.O. Box 94604
Lincoln, NE 68509
Phone: (402) 471-2620
Email: nwallman@leg.ne.gov

Note: While it likely need not be said to the overwhelming majority of readers of our articles, due to the recent episode involving an email sent to members of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, when sending email to members of the Legislature, it is likely a wise idea to examine your tagline or signature for any quotes or phrases you may be using and simply confirm that there is no possibility whatsoever of misinterpretation. Finally, respectful and thoughtful communications with our representatives is always the most effective.