Heads of local supervisors’ unions say new law too narrow to affect members

Part of a new law aimed at keeping publicly paid supervisors from unionizing will have no effect in Clark County, according to labor, business and government leaders.

The heads of local supervisors' unions say the law contains such a narrow definition of supervisors who are ineligible to organize that it will affect none of their members.

It's among the changes in collective bargaining that Democratic legislators offered in return for Republicans agreeing to extend
$620 million in taxes that were set to expire.

Gov. Brian Sandoval signed Senate Bill 98 into law Friday. The Legislature adjourned June 7. The law goes into effect July 1.

"The changes that they made do not affect our personnel," said Lt. John Faulis, head of the Las Vegas Police Managers and Supervisors Association, referring to the supervisor part of the bill. "They're all supervisors, yes, just not as defined in the new laws."

To be disqualified from joining a union, a supervisor must be appointed rather than promoted.

The person must have the power to hire, fire, discipline and promote employees or recommend such actions, the law states.

That person also must handle budgeting and be consulted on collective bargaining.

And these supervisory duties must make up a significant portion of the person's workday.

All local public supervisors appear to be immune, including Clark County fire battalion chiefs, school principals and various police captains and lieutenants.

"What I looked at, it wouldn't affect (county) battalion chiefs," said Ryan Beaman, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 1908.

Commissioner Chris Giunchigliani, a labor advocate, said some news reports made it sound as though the law would nullify some supervisors unions.

But it applies to "a pretty narrow group," Giunchigliani said. "It looks like it's not going to affect anybody in Clark County."

CHAMBER WANTED MORE

The Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce sought a more encompassing ban on supervisors organizing.

Chamber officials wanted anyone with the authority to hire, fire, discipline and promote employees or recommend such actions to be barred from union membership, said Steve Hill, who represented the chamber during the legislative session.

That generic description is more in line with how the courts defined a private-sector supervisor in a 1984 labor case, Hill said.

The language in the final bill, which applies to few, if any, government supervisors, is not a surprising outcome in a Democrat-controlled Legislature, Hill said.

Chamber leaders were concerned that a cozy relationship can develop between supervisors and underlings if they're members of the same union or labor coalition, Hill said.

County firefighters and battalion chiefs who supervise belong to the International Association of Firefighters Local 1908, although they're on separate contracts, Hill said.

The union ties might have created a fraternal feeling that encouraged the chiefs to collaborate with firefighters in misusing sick leave, Hill said. He was referring to the much-publicized uproar that led to the county, police and FBI digging into possible abuse.

Still, the overall reforms contained in the bill, which might seem relatively minor, are the most significant changes in the state's collective bargaining laws in decades, Hill said.

"It's a step forward, but there's more work to do," he said.

new law has other provisions

The new law also requires unions and management to set terms during bargaining for reopening contracts during economic hardship. And it forbids public attorneys who handle litigation from joining unions.

"It didn't go as far as Republicans wanted, and it went further than Democrats wanted," said state Sen. Joe Hardy, R-Boulder City, who sponsored the original bill.

Hardy said he introduced a bill that would have lengthened mediation between unions and management before a labor dispute goes to binding arbitration.

In mediation, a third party tries to get the two sides to compromise. In arbitration, a presiding officer chooses one final offer and rejects the other, and the decision is binding.

Hardy said arbitration can be a costly, unproductive way to settle differences.

His proposed changes to arbitration were deleted when Sandoval began negotiating with lawmakers late in the session, Hardy said, noting that legislators shifted the focus to other public employee union issues.

The head of the North Las Vegas Police Supervisors Association said the law's description of a supervisor doesn't fit any of the union's 60 members.

"We don't have any of these abilities," said Leonard Cardinale, the union's president.

Representatives for the school administrators' union and the Service Employees International Union said the law also won't apply to their supervisors.

Hardy said the bill that passed is the first salvo. Bolder efforts to curb collective bargaining will be made in future legislative sessions, he said.

With local governments financially strapped, much of the public has grown disenchanted with unions pushing for heftier pay and benefits, he said.

He said he has heard differing interpretations of the law. He expects it will be clarified and probably tweaked.

"Everything we do gets amended," Hardy said.

Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519.