Las Vegas mayoral hopefuls tackle labor issues

The two Las Vegas mayoral hopefuls covered familiar ground during a debate Wednesday but also illuminated a few differences on issues important to the event's host, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce.

Carolyn Goodman and Chris Giunchigliani staked out opposite positions on binding arbitration, a dispute resolution method used when governments and public employee unions are at impasse over labor contracts.

Giunchigliani supports binding arbitration, calling it "the hammer that keeps them at the table" when talks aren't going well.

Goodman said she opposes binding arbitration: "If it gets to that point, the right issues haven't been brought up," she said. Elected officials such as city council members or county commissioners could play that role instead because they're responsible to the public for allocating tax money, she said.

Giunchigliani said she prefers having a third party rule on labor contracts based on the ability to pay for the contract rather than having elected officials as the final arbiter: "They gave away the store in some cases," she said.

The candidates also differed on project labor agreements, which are between unions acting as a group and the owner of a large construction project, such as a public or government entity.

Giunchigliani, who has a long history of union support, is in favor of the agreements. She said they set enforceable standards and deadlines and make it easier to promote the use of local workers and companies and companies owned by women or minorities.

Goodman said the intent of the agreements is good, but she generally does not support their use. If companies do poor work, miss deadlines or go over budget, she said, they will lose business to their competitors.

Giunchigliani said she is not in favor of a 401(k)-style retirement system, and Goodman said she is open to studying the idea.

Nevada has a defined-benefit plan, which provides a retirement benefit based on an employee's earnings and service and creates an obligation for the state. The alternative is a defined-contribution plan, which does not create that obligation but exposes the worker to more market risk.

The candidates agreed that collective bargaining talks should be open to the public, and they agreed that public worker salaries should be more in line with the private sector.

The chamber puts out reports criticizing compensation packages for state and local government workers, and a study done by the city found that some city salaries outpaced similar jobs in other government entities.

The chamber's 2009 study said Nevada local government workers' average salary is 129 percent of the average peer employee nationally.

It's "hard to take away" compensation that already has been awarded, Goodman said.

"I would work and see what could be done at the entry level" to reduce costs, she said.

Giunchigliani said "in some cases," salaries are too high, but she said that Nevada's public agencies tend to be staffed leanly and that with recent budget cuts are sometimes understaffed. Compensation could be lowered, but more workers should be hired, she said.

The two candidates are the finalists in the contest to succeed Mayor Oscar Goodman, Carolyn Goodman's husband, who cannot seek re-election because of term limits.

The next mayor will earn a salary of about $130,000.

Early voting starts May 21, and the general election is June 7.

The candidates will debate again at 7:30 a.m. today in the UNLV Student Union's second-floor ballroom.

Contact reporter Alan Choate at achoate@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.