Will arbitrator declare SEIU above the law?

Does an arbitrator have the power to ignore the law?

Clark County and the Service Employees International Union Local 1107 are headed to binding arbitration to settle a labor dispute that has stretched out for more than two years. The proceedings to settle just how much more money will be paid to one of the best-paid local government workforces in the country will provide a defining test for newly enacted collective bargaining reforms.

Which is to say we'll find out whether those reforms actually exist.

The SEIU is trying to convince Oregon-based arbitrator Ross Runkel that Nevada law doesn't say what it clearly says. And if Runkel agrees with the SEIU and orders the county to abide by the union's final contract offer, it's unclear whether the county and its taxpayers will have any legal recourse to challenge it. Binding arbitration is binding, after all.

It's absurd that the SEIU has dragged out its contract impasse for this long to begin with. The union and the county aren't that far apart on compensation for current county workers. The county is willing to give its rank-and-file workers a 2.5 percent raise retroactive to July 1, 2014, and a 2 percent pay raise retroactive to July 1 of this year. The union wants a 2.5 percent raise retroactive to July 1, 2014, and a 2.25 percent increase retroactive to July 1 of this year.

So whenever Runkel issues his decision, county workers are going to get either a 4.55 percent pay raise (with compounding) or a 4.8 percent pay raise, plus a big chunk of back pay. With no nexus to performance. And you'll pay for it. (Retailers, roll out your Christmas displays. You're welcome, SEIU!)

The sticking point is the union's insistence that Senate Bill 241, which was signed into law by Gov. Brian Sandoval on June 1 specifically to apply to disputes such as the SEIU's, doesn't apply to the SEIU. Indeed, a section in the union's post-hearing brief to Runkel is headlined: "Senate Bill 241 Has No Bearing On The Outcome Of This Fact-Finding."

One of the most important provisions of SB241: effectively ending taxpayer-funded union work by government employees. The reform recognizes that it's profoundly unfair to make taxpayers subsidize union activities that are hostile to taxpayers. (To say nothing of salaries and benefits that aren't available in the private sector, but I digress.) However, the law allows governments to continue paying for union leave if the union reimburses the government or offsets the cost of that work via concessions negotiated through collective bargaining.

The SEIU claims this provision doesn't apply because its contract with the county, which expired in 2013, contained an "evergreen" clause that continues its terms until a new contract is in place. Which is to argue that its contract never expires and therefore can't be subjected to the requirements of new laws. But if the contract never expires, why does the union want a new deal with new pay raises? Answer: Because it wants to have it both ways.

The county offered to let the SEIU keep paid union leave in exchange for ending longevity pay for future hires, which, while not saving the county any money immediately, would reduce long-term budget deficits. But the union's idea of an offsetting concession was to preserve longevity pay, which gives workers a separate annual pay premium once they reach eight years of service, but to make future hires eligible after 11 years of service — savings too small to cover additional decades of union leave. The union also considers its rejection of a $500 bonus previously offered by the county in exchange for the end of longevity pay a "concession" — money its members never received. Where's the savings to the public to recoup what union dues should be covering, per SB241? There isn't any.

Taxpayers will get punched in the face by this settlement no matter which offer Runkel picks. It's just a matter of how hard they'll be hit — and whether Runkel kicks the law in the gut to boot.

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is the Las Vegas Review-Journal's senior editorial writer. Follow him on Twitter: @Glenn_CookNV Listen to him Mondays at 10 a.m. on "Live and Local — Now!" with Kevin Wall on KBET 790 AM.