Legislative briefing attracts overflow crowd

Concerns about a controversial bill passed last week in the Iowa Legislature that reduces the bargaining power of many public employee unions attracted an overflow crowd to the city council chambers at Glenwood City Hall Saturday morning for a legislative briefing with State Rep. David Sieck (R-Glenwood) and State. Sen. Mark Costello (R-Imogene).
    The content and potential consequences of the legislation dominated discussion at the two-hour public forum.
    Under the new legislation, unions representing the state’s teachers, nurses, correctional officers and employees at facilities like the Glenwood Resource Center will only be allowed to negotiate wages. Workers will no longer be able to collectively bargain for benefits - such as health insurance and vacation time – or working conditions related to work schedules, overtime pay and employee evaluation procedures. The legislation also prohibits unions from collecting dues through payroll deduction and requires every union to be recertified before negotiations can take place.
    The legislation was passed swiftly with strong partisan support from Republicans, who control both houses of the Iowa Legislature for the first time in two decades.  Democrats, labor unions and other opponents have accused Republicans of intentionally keeping the public in the dark about the legislation before fast-tracking the bill through committee votes. Content of the bill was made public Feb. 7 with a vote for final passage in the Senate taking place nine days later.
    A member of the audience at Saturday’s briefing questioned why Sieck and Costello failed to mention the potential for a collective bargaining bill at their Jan. 21 legislative briefing in Glenwood, a community with a significant number of public employees.
    “Why are we having a meeting after the fact, after this has been pushed through?” she asked.
    Sieck said although he had heard rumors about the possibility of collective bargaining being discussed during the 2017 session, no bill had actually been presented at the time of the January briefing in Glenwood.
    Both Sieck and Costello said they received more than the usual amount of input from constituents about the bill after it was introduced.
    Sieck said he thoroughly researched the issue and came to the conclusion that passage was in the best interest of the state, noting that many of Iowa’s existing collective bargaining laws were passed 40 years ago and have become a hindrance for management-level employees to perform their duties. He said he fully understands and appreciates the concerns of teachers and state employees from Glenwood and other areas of his legislative district that will be impacted by the new law.
    “I grew up with a lot of you in this room,” Sieck said. “The easy thing for me would’ve been to vote no and kick the can down the road.”
    Costello did not elaborate on the specific reasons he voted for passage, but did say the majority of correspondence and input he received was in opposition to the bill. Costello pointed out that unions representing fire fighters and police officers are exempt from the new law. He also defended the manner in which Republicans pushed the bill through for passage.
    Gov. Terry Branstad put his signature on the legislation Friday, but on Monday, The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Iowa Council 61 (the state’s largest public employee union) filed a lawsuit to block the law and asked for an injunction to halt enforcement. The union argues that the law violates language in the Iowa Constitution that ensures equality to citizens.
    Both Sieck and Costello said they would oppose legislation that reduces or eliminates IPERS (Iowa Public Employee Retirement System) benefits for state workers.
    In addition to the collective bargaining legislation, other topics of discussion at Saturday’s briefing included tax breaks for large companies, water quality and the state’s aluminum can redemption law.