The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities is calling on state leaders to oppose a Senate bill expanding the power and reach of public-sector labor unions, arguing the proposal would place new burdens on many towns and cities and complicate the relationship between municipal employers and their workers.
The legislation, known as SB 908, would require public employers to supply unions with employees’ contact information, give union officials access to new employee orientations, and allow public employees and retirees to authorize deductions from their salaries or retirement payments to pay union dues.
Co-sponsored by Senate President Pro Tem Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, and Sen. Julie Kushner, D-Danbury, the bill was recently passed out of the Labor Committee and added to the Senate’s calendar.
Supporters have presented the proposal as a response to a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Janus v. AFSCME, in which the court decided that the application of public-sector union fees to non-member public employees is a violation of the First Amendment.
But CCM officials argue the act is a “solution in search of a problem,” as Connecticut’s municipal employers and labor unions have had generally good relationships and open lines of communication both before and after the Janus ruling.
“The proposed statutory changes outlined in this bill represent a fundamental shift in functions and operations that have traditionally been the responsibility of municipal management,” said CCM Executive Director and CEO Joe DeLong. “The changes would infringe on the autonomy of municipal employers to efficiently manage their operations and employees.”
The organization contends SB 908 amounts to a burdensome unfunded mandate that will be especially challenging for smaller member towns with limited resources to fully comply with.
CCM officials also criticized provisions making public-sector unions the mediator in discussions between employers and workers about dues deductions.
“CCM is concerned with liability issues that may arise if there were to be a dispute [between] the union and an employee as it related to payroll deduction,” the organization wrote in a statement.
Supporters of SB 908 maintain the bill clarifies procedures for the sharing of information between public employers and unions and will help end delays in employers notifying unions about the hiring of new staff members.
