Thursday, March 13, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: Rallies spotlight rights

It is unlikely the bill will pass during this session

State employees rally Wednesday evening outside of the Sawyer Building in support of collective bargaining and health insurance reform. Lawmakers, however, see a rough road for a collective bargaining bill this legislative session. Photo by Craig L. Moran. Pat Rush, a State of Nevada Employees Association member, leads chants Wednesday outside of the Sawyer Building in Las Vegas. A crowd of about 250 protested in Las Vegas and 60 more rallied earlier in the day in Carson City. Photo by Craig L. Moran.

CARSON CITY -- About 300 state employees rallied Wednesday at the Legislature and in Las Vegas in support of collective bargaining and health insurance reform, but lawmakers from both parties say workers likely will see little progress on their political agenda this session.

The rallies, organized by the State of Nevada Employees Association, were held to call attention to the group's goals for the 2003 legislative session. The goals include finding a long-term fix to the hemorrhaging state health plan, improving the poor working relationship between employees and some state agency directors and opposing privatization of state services.

"We see collective bargaining as a key to resolving a lot of these problems for state workers," said Scott MacKenzie, executive director of the employees association. "If state officials worked with employees through collective bargaining, I believe we could actually save the state money."

But the collective bargaining bill, sought by state employees for more than a decade, appears dead this session. The bill would give state employees the right to negotiate with officials over working conditions, salary and benefits.

Senate Government Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ann O'Connell, R-Las Vegas, said no collective bargaining bill will make it out of her committee, even with Gov. Kenny Guinn's support. Guinn told state workers in May 2002 he would sign a collective bargaining bill if it made it to his desk.

"It's not going to happen," O'Connell said. "Collective bargaining to my way of thinking takes away control that management needs."

Assembly Government Affairs Chairman Mark Manendo, D-Las Vegas, who recently saw Assembly Bill 65 giving collective bargaining rights to state employees win approval from his panel, acknowledged it will be a tough session for workers. The bill is expected to pass the Democratically controlled Assembly.

With no cost-of-living increases in the budget and a tough road for the collective bargaining bill, the best employees might get this session is the big financial boost in the state subsidy for their health insurance, he said.

"Which is too bad," Manendo said. "We want to do as much as possible to help state employees. We hire and train workers who then move to the cities or counties, where they are paid more. But we pick up the tab."

The protest in the capital brought about 60 state workers, holding signs with such slogans as "collective bargaining is about rights, respect and dignity."

One protester was Bernice Encinas, a nurse who works at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center.

"I'm here in support of our union and in support of collective bargaining," she said.

At least 250 employees demonstrated in front of the Sawyer Building, said Sam Cavelli, president of the state employees union.

The association has about 3,600 members. There are about 15,000 state employees.

MacKenzie said he is collecting data to demonstrate to lawmakers, including O'Connell, that collective bargaining will save taxpayers money.

The association in December filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Corrections, alleging that the agency has retaliated against union-active corrections officers with unwarranted disciplinary action.

MacKenzie said the association has spent about $40,000 in the lawsuit over the First Amendment rights of correctional officers that would not have been needed if collective bargaining was in place. The state attorney general's office has had to spend thousands of dollars to fight the litigation, he said.

But O'Connell said collective bargaining rights won by school employees and local government workers has meant that money intended for books, supplies or maintenance has been siphoned into union worker paychecks instead.

MacKenzie said 35 states have collective bargaining for their employees. In Nevada, local government workers, including teachers, also have the right.

One issue lawmakers are focusing on this session is the state self-funded health insurance plan, which faces a $20.5 million deficit next year without changes in rates or benefits.

Guinn has recommended increasing the monthly contribution per employee for health insurance to $496 a month in the first year of the 2003-05 budget, and to $558 in the second year. The contribution is $466 per month this year.

But changes to the plan also are under consideration as a way of getting the escalating costs under control, changes that state employees do not support.

To critics who argue that state employees are already well paid with a benefits package that often exceeds that offered by private business, MacKenzie said the standards are set by the marketplace.

Clark County drives the wage and benefit package for government employees, and the state must remain competitive to keep its investment in trained staff, he said.

"They're trying to balance this budget on the backs of these employees," Cavelli said. "And that's wrong."

Review-Journal writer Frank Curreri contributed to this report.