July 15, 2008
Guaranteeing union dollars
Public employee unions are a step closer to realizing a long-time dream: a guarantee they will continue to receive millions of dollars annually from public employees who chose not to join labor unions.
Sitting on Governor Paterson's desk is a bill that would make agency shop fee collection permanent. Currently, the provision is renewed every two years by the Legislature. (For background, see here.)
In New York, state and local government employees are not required to join labor unions. However, they must pay unions an "agency fee," because the unions are obligated to represent them in collective bargaining and disciplinary hearings.
The Legislature routinely passes two-year extender bills that require government employers to automatically deduct agency fees from the nonmembers' paychecks and transfer the money to the unions.
Tired of asking for two-year extenders, the unions want a permanent law. Assembly Democrats were willing to comply. They regularly passed one-house bills that died in the Senate--until this year when Senate Republicans gave the unions what they want.
The bill's fate now is up to Paterson. Local government associations urge a veto, arguing the measure undermines their leverage in negotiations. Agency shop, they say, should be a subject of collective bargaining.
Agency shop makes "it more difficult for school districts to negotiate financially responsible contracts," says the New York State School Boards Association in a memo of opposition.
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