Is it a good thing or a bad thing?

Having not read the entire bill, ( Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act) I am wondering how many others states are looking at this legislation as violating state law.

"We need to make sure that Washington lets Texans run Texas, without the burdens of bureaucracy or union mandates." Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott

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Permalink Reply by Gregory Borg on July 21, 2010 at 3:12pm

John, I think it is important to realize many states have had collective bargaining laws on the books for many years. The world did not end, fire departments still get the work done. In Washington we have a compulsory collective bargaining and binding arbitration. What that means is the city or fire district must come to the bargaining table, they try to work our a solution. If they cannot a mediator come into negotiations and helps the side work out a deal. If they still cannot agree then a third party neutral arbitrator is called in. Both sides present their cases and the arbitrator decides what the solution will be. Both sides are required by law to accept the resulting decision. There is no appeal. With this in place 98% of the time people reach a compromised agreement. The arbitrator is required to use other fire departments of like size and makeup to compare to to help make his decisions on wages and benefits. It has worked here since 1972 , both sides are pretty happy with it.
Also in Washington if over 50% of the employees vote to join a union all the members must join and pay dues. But is is not like that in all states, BUT the states that have that rule generally make better wages, work less hours and have better benefits.

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Permalink Reply by paula beckham on August 7, 2010 at 1:13am

You could do well to look at New Zealands history here the unions were crippling the country then we got the employments contracts act. Sadly it was a swing from the far left to the far right.
With that over nite all of the workers rights were stripped away and the employers given the power we have what is called individual employment contracts. there are still unions going but they are mostly week and spineless puppies.
the theory is we bargain for our selves however it is more often than not a one sided issue here is your zero to three percent now be a good little person and back to work
The act was introduced in 1991 it even removed the basic right to a smoko or lunch break it was not till this year that it was amended back into the act after the government realized that many employers were forcing their younger staff to work 8 to 10 hrs a day with no breaks. WHY because they could, also the government in this country has had to force up the minimum wage for the young people as the company's will only pay the minimum no matter how good their staff are and when they turn adult they are actively encouraged to get another job.
I am not saying all business in nz is bad but those who wanted could use the contract act to their advantage especially against the younger or less educated. These were mostly the small to mid sized business the larger ones have a sense or morals and mostly played by the rules.
over the last 19 years our standard of living and real earning power has decreased by roughly .75% per year for the average middle income family
So to you guys over there keep your wits about you on this issue