Letter to the Editor: A bill to change Iowa's collective bargaining law for public employees is "cynical and shameful legislation"

(The Iowa Senate and Iowa House on Tuesday began debate on legislation to change the rules for bargaining with state employees.  Police officers and firefighters would be exempt from the changes.  Steve McCargar of Decorah has submitted this Letter to the Editor):

"Over the past few years we've heard from the political right about the sanctity of a "strict-constructionist" interpretation of the Constitution.

Unfortunately, when Republicans are in the majority in Congress or in state legislatures, they quickly lose sight of that supposedly "sacred" principle.  A case in point is the current rush by the Iowa House of Representatives and State Senate to change Iowa's collective bargaining law for public employees.  Our state constitution has an "equal protection" clause that clearly establishes the unconstitutionality of HF 291 and its Senate companion, SF 213.  These identical bills introduced by Republicans in both state houses would gut Chapter 20 of the Iowa Code and make a mockery of Section 6 of the Iowa Constitution which is titled "Laws Uniform". 

Here is the critical text from our state constitution:  "All laws of a general nature shall have a uniform operation; the General Assembly shall not grant to any citizen, or class of citizens, privileges or immunities which upon the same terms shall not equally belong to all citizens."   Keep that language in mind as you read the two most important paragraphs of the proposed union-busting legislation--

Chapter 20 - Paragraph 20.9 - Scope of Negotiations
"For negotiations regarding a bargaining unit with a majority of members who are public safety employees [defined as a sheriff or sheriff's deputy, a marshal or police officer, state police officer, fire marshal, narcotics officer, conservation officer, park ranger or full-time fire-fighter] the public employer and the employee organization shall meet...to negotiate in good faith with respect to wages, hours, vacations, insurance, holidays, leaves of absence, shift differentials, overtime compensation, supplemental pay, seniority, transfer procedures, job classifications, health and safety matters, evaluation procedures, procedures for staff reduction, in-service training, grievance procedures for resolving any questions arising under the agreement, and other matters mutually agreed upon."

"For negotiations regarding a bargaining unit that does NOT (emphasis added) have a majority of members who are public safety employees, the public employer and the employee organization shall meet....to negotiate in good faith with respect to base wages and other matter mutually agreed upon."

These two paragraphs mean that for non-public safety government employees (teachers, nurses, equipment operators, social workers, secretaries, janitors, etc.) their union could only bargain for base wages AND NOTHING ELSE unless the public employer agreed to expand the scope of the negotiations.
 
On the face of it, this cynical and shameful legislation would create a two-tiered system for defining the bargaining rights of public employees in Iowa.  Employees held in esteem by the Republican party (and counted on for political support at election time) would have full bargaining rights.  Those thought to be of lesser value politically would lose their right to negotiate for a host of working conditions and benefits. 

Incredibly, our state representative, Mike Bergan, refused to disavow this bill's intent and would not comment on its obvious contravention of our state's constitution.  Are you a strict constructionist, Mike, or a lapdog  for the radical fringe of your party?   A lot of your constituents would like to know."