THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Collective Bargaining Fact Sheet and Talking Points

Introduction: The events in Wisconsin and in America’s heartland have been, quite simply, a defibrillator for democracy and the hope of economic justice.

These developments were not initiated or organized by a political party: it was true democracy at work. Union members, non-union workers, progressives and young people alike gathered by the tens of thousands to express their support for economic justice and a government accountable to the people-- not corporations or CEO's.

Definition: Collective bargaining is a process of negotiations between employers and the representatives of a unit of employees aimed at reaching agreements which regulate working conditions. Collective bargaining agreements usually set out wage scales, working hours, training, health and safety, overtime, grievance mechanisms and rights to participate in workplace or company affairs.

Collective bargaining consists of the process of negotiation between representatives of a union and the employer. The parties often refer to the result of the ratified negotiation process as a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) or as a collective employment agreement (CEA).

Fact: A CBS Poll from February 28, 2011 revealed that Americans oppose weakening the bargaining rights of public employee unions by a margin of nearly two to one: 60 percent to 33 percent. The WSJ/NBC poll puts that number as high as 62 percent.

While a slim majority of Republicans favored taking away some bargaining rights, they were outnumbered by large majorities of Democrats and Independents who said they opposed weakening them. Those surveyed said they opposed, 56 percent to 37 percent, cutting the pay or benefits of public employees to reduce deficits, breaking down along similar party lines. A majority of respondents who have no union members living in their households opposed both cuts in pay or benefits and taking away the collective bargaining rights of public employees.

Fact:  The same CBS poll found 62 percent of independents (and 70 percent of Democrats) oppose weakening collective bargaining.

Fact: A collective bargaining agreement cannot accomplish by contract what the law prohibits. For example, a union and an employer cannot use collective bargaining to deprive employees of rights they would otherwise enjoy under laws such as the civil rights statutes.

Fact: Right-to-work laws are statutes that are enforced in twenty-two U.S. states, mostly in the southern or western U.S., allowed under provisions of the Taft-Hartley Act, which prohibit agreements between labor unions and employers making membership or payment of union dues or fees a condition of employment, either before or after hiring.

photo:  Ove Overmyer

Fact: Collective bargaining is a civil rights issue. Let's not forget, Martin Luther King, Jr. lost his life while supporting AFSCME sanitation workers who were on strike in Memphis in 1968.

Fact: This is a fight to honor the work of the middle class.

Fact: Actions to remove collective bargaining in the workplace do not save taxpayers one dime.

Fact: Actions to remove collective bargaining from the workplace are motivated by privatization and political expediency-- it's a direct attack on the Democratic Party.

Fact: Unions provide democratic workplaces and a counterbalance to absolute power of government and corporate greed.

Fact: Both public and private sector unions have, so to speak, a legal obligation to be the disloyal opposition.

Fact: Collective bargaining provides for due process, fair hearings and equal protections under the law.

Fact: No less than 16 newly elected Republican Governors around the country are promoting anti-worker legislation disguised as budget deficit reduction plans. The fact is that our country is not broke—the wealth that the working class generates has been transferred, in the greatest heist in history, from the workers and consumers to the banks and the portfolios of the uber-rich. To illustrate this point, Wall Street's five biggest firms put aside nearly 90 billion dollars for executive pay raises or bonuses for 2010-- the GNP of 13 entire developing countries. Collective bargaining is seen as an obstacle for lawmakers to privatize public services.

Fact: In 2010, just 400 Americans have the same wealth as half of all Americans combined. Let's revisit that number please-- 400 obscenely rich people, most of who benefited in some way from the multi-trillion dollar taxpayer "bailout" of 2008, now have as much loot, stock and property as the assets of 155 million Americans combined.

Fact: Anti-labor forces spent over 1 billion last election cycle to elect hard-right Republican Governor’s and state lawmakers who oppose unions.

Conclusion: We would argue that the American people are hungry for our elected leaders to restore a vision for a national future founded on the premise that social justice and material prosperity are not competing values-- they can co-exist and are necessary to each other for a healthy, sustainable and growing economy.  Collective bargaining is at the heart of this discussion.

Content provided by O. Overmyer
March 16, 2011