City bucks Senate proposal (Richmond County Daily Journal)
The City of Rockingham has voiced “strong opposition” to a Senate bill it believes would mandate that municipalities engage in collective bargaining with public safety employee unions, including firefighters.
The city recently settled a Fair Labor Standards Act lawsuit with 10 members of its fire department after they signed on to an AFL-CIO labor union called the International Association of Fire Fighters.
The bill was discussed at last week’s meeting of the Rockingham City Council, where the council unanimously approved letters to be sent to U.S. Rep. Larry Kissell and U.S. Senators Richard Burr and Kay Hagan.
In the letter, signed by Rockingham Mayor Gene McLaurin, the city said the bill “is being rushed through the Senate, deliberately bypassing the normal committee process.”
“Our position and the position of the other 544 cities and towns of the N.C. League of Municipalities is that the federal government should not undermine municipal autonomy with respect to making fundamental employment decisions by mandating specific working conditions, including collective bargaining.”
North Carolina law prohibits collective bargaining between local governments and employee labor unions, but the federal law would supersede state statute.
Professional Fire Fighters and Paramedics of North Carolina President David Anders said his organization supports local government employees being able to engage in collective bargaining, and said its purpose isn’t to “build a wall between local government employees and management.”
“Hopefully, city officials will soon understand that firefighters and collective bargaining are about building bridges and relationships,” Anders wrote in a letter in support of the bill. “The legislation that is now before Congress will require that employers discuss work place issues with their public safety employees. As far as I can see, this legislation will not require employers to do anything they are ultimately opposed to and will allow a written contract once an agreement is reached.”
Rockingham City Manager Monty Crump doesn’t see it that way, and also doesn’t believe the lawsuit filed against the city by its fire fighters has anything to do with it.
“It takes away from local government the power to manage,” Crump said. “We’re a right to work state, and this federal law would preempt that and override state law and require collecting bargaining.”
He said the bill would totally change the way cities do business.
“The people have entrusted the city council to set salaries and a tax rate, but when you get into collective bargaining and union contracts you’re talking about a huge increase in cost for the taxpayers,” Crump continued. “If you look at the top five or 10 states that are in debt, the worst you’ll see, they all have public service unions. I don’t think that’s a coincidence.”
Staff Writer Philip D. Brown can be reached at (910) 997-3111 ext. 32, or by e-mail at [email protected].
