Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
With much fanfare at the start of the legislative session, the Goldwater Institute pushed a package of four anti-labor bills carried by lead sponsor, Sen. Rick Murphy (R-Glendale). Anti-Union Bills Sail Out of Arizona Senate Government Reform Committee - Phoenix New Times:
Senate Bill 1484 states public employers "shall not deduct" any third party (unions) payments unless they have express permission from the employee.
Senate Bill 1485 aims to kill collective bargaining altogether: "No state agency or political subdivision of this state is vested or possesses any authority to ... (2) collectively bargain or enter into any employment bargain with any union or its agents."
Senate Bill 1486 prohibits cities and towns from building into union contracts any "release time," that is releasing city employees from their city jobs to work on behalf of the unions while still collecting salaries and benefits.
Senate Bill 1487 would make it unlawful for the public sector employer to diverted employee pay for "labor organization dues."
Despite heavy lobbying by the Goldwater Institute's Koch brothers ally Americans for Prosperity, they could not overcome fierce opposition from the public safety employee unions, and various iterations of these bills all died in the legislature.
This is a major victory for public employee workers.
The one bill that did pass was the plot by Governor Jan Brewer Boss Tweed to end the civil service merit selection system and to return to the halcyon days of the political spoils system of political patronage.
I have not had a chance to read the bill signed by Governor Brewer in its entirety, but my first impression is that this bill contains a "carve out" exempting certain categories of state employees, which is a fatal flaw that led the Arizona courts to strike down an anti-labor measure last year for this very reason. I suspect that labor lawyers are reviewing this bill carefully for a possible legal challenge to this law on the same grounds. This fight may not be over.
Check out Arizona at Work on facebook for the names and dollar amounts these legislators got for their ALEC paid junkets to New Orleans and Scottsdale; very interesting
Posted by: SlayerAZ | May 08, 2012 at 04:05 PM