How Much More Will Unions
Lose?
By Susan Kniep, Former Mayor of East
Hartford
President, The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations
February 13, 2012
A recent news report in Connecticut noted that Teacher Tenure No Longer Taboo.
In Arizona,
a senate committee voted to ban
collective bargaining with public employee unions.
Providence, Rhode Island last week declared it could join the six cities throughout
the country which have already filed for Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy. If
they do, union contracts could follow the same path as Vallejo,
California as headlines read “Judge Lets
Bankrupt Vallejo
Void Union Pacts.”
In a January 17, 2012 decision,
the Connecticut Supreme Court upheld a 2009 lawsuit
brought by Electrical Contractors Inc. which challenged the State of Connecticut’s
requirement that union labor be used on public sector jobs. The decision stipulated that Electrical
Contractors could challenge the state’s requirement, giving the company an
opportunity to benefit financially.
According to an article in the
Hartford Business Journal, “The justices said Electrical Contractors is correct
in claiming that PLAs (Project Labor Agreements) are discriminatory and
perpetuate fraud, corruption and favoritism, and that Electrical Contractors
could challenge PLAs on the grounds of the Connecticut Antitrust Act”.
The success of Electrical
Contractors could ultimately lessen the impact of contractor costs on state and
municipal budgets and taxpayers, while providing a greater opportunity for
those seeking employment who do not belong to a union.
Additionally, the State and
towns throughout Connecticut
which have similar contracts requiring union workers could be at risk as this
case progresses.
Last
week, the State of Indiana joined 22 other Right-to-work
states. As defined by the State of Connecticut
“Right-to-work laws allow employees to decide whether or not to join or financially
support a union.” Connecticut is not a Right-to-Work state.
Recently, it was reported that
over the last decade, employment grew 2.3 percent in right-to-work states
compared with a 4 percent decline in others.
Income growth was also 17.5 percentage
points higher in right-to-work states.
It is interesting to note that Connecticut’s Office of
Legislative Research produced a report in June, 2011 on the issue of
Right-to-work States wherein they noted “Studies show that right-to-work laws
have a statistically significant positive effect on employment levels and job
creation, including faster growth in manufacturing jobs and lower unemployment
rates. This may be because right-to-work laws affect where companies locate and
manufacturing plants open. For example, all new auto plants built in the United States
in the last 10 years were built in right-to-work states (Cooper, at 25).”
Connecticut is not a Right to Work State. Connecticut
taxpayers paid to collect $33 million in union dues for the benefit of State
employee unions in 2010.
As the majority of Connecticut's
State Legislators and Governor Malloy
are allied with the public sector unions
- as demonstrated by burdening Connecticut taxpayers with a 9% wage
increase for state employees under a four year no lay off clause - it is
doubtful that Connecticut will ever join other Right-to-Work states which are
attempting to bring back jobs.
Instead the Governor and state
legislators are dedicating $22 million of our tax dollars for an ad campaign to
entice businesses to Connecticut. A more prudent suggestion would be to reform
State Collective Bargaining Laws to reduced taxes while also joining other
Right-to-Work States.