Public Workers Collective Bargaining

Greensboro (NC) News-Record ^ | 05/28/2010 | Doug Clark

[gartrell bibberts]

...Action is anticipated on a measure in the Senate that would mandate collective bargaining rights for public safety employees.

Last night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who previously introduced a separate bill, proposed an amendment to an appropriations bill to accomplish his collective bargaining objective.

As I've written before, this would override North Carolina law, which prohibits collective bargaining by all public employees.

North Carolina business and government groups, including the League of Municipalities and Chamber of Commerce, strongly oppose the measure and believe Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan will provide a key vote.

During her 2008 campaign, she told us she would never vote for such a measure. Sticking to that now will require her to go against her leader in the Senate.

A potential vote on cloture will be important, however. Observers say Reid's measure will have at least 51 votes but maybe not the 60 needed to proceed to a final vote. If Hagan votes for cloture, allowing the measure to advance, it probably won't matter if she votes against the measure itself; she will have enabled it to pass, according to opponents of collective bargaining.

To protect North Carolina's position on this issue, she should do everything she can to stop the measure.

[gartrell bibberts]

More organizing by state and local public employees is just what we need right now. The decline in California began in 1978 when Jerry Brown (then governor) permitted the union thugs to organize. Now you have mayors of small towns retiring on more than $500,000 per year. Sign me up, Scotty

[C19fan]

OMG! Passing this law would be as bad as ObamaCare. As you pointed out CA has gone into the toilet because of the power of the public sector union with collective bargaining rights.

[daydreamer]

I’m not sure when government workers were allowed to organize for collective bargaining, but it is a travesty and a mistake. Now all taxpayers are held captive to their demands. What started without much thought should be put to and end. NO to new union organization!