IBEW Attractive to Public Workers, According to Attorney

Published Wednesday
September 29, 2004

More public workers look to unions

BY PAUL HAMMEL


WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

ST. PAUL, Neb. - As in many small towns, the St. Paul City Council has talked about cutting employee benefits in the face of rising health insurance costs and state-imposed spending lids.

That got the attention of city workers, who also noticed a rising discrepancy in their wages compared with those paid by a public power district in town that is represented by a union.

The result was something that is occurring more frequently across Nebraska: 12 St. Paul city employees - who jokingly call themselves "The Dirty Dozen" - voted to join a union.

The workers in the central Nebraska town of 2,218 were among 18 groups of local city, county and school workers who certified unions to represent them over the past two years.

That's three times as many as in the previous two years.

"There's a lot of interest out there," said Dalton Tietjen, a Lincoln attorney who represents the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which bargains for the St. Paul city employees.

Officials cited economic factors, primarily threats of layoffs and loss of health insurance, as driving factors in the upturn in union formation, as well as more aggressive recruiting by unions.

"Tight budgets are requiring difficult decisions by public employers across the state," said Bill Harding, a Lincoln attorney who represents both public and private employers on labor issues.

He cited the IBEW as one of the aggressive unions, noting that the union now represents librarians and office workers, as well as the workers who service local electrical systems.

Union organizers also are focusing on smaller towns. Five teachers in Jackson, Neb., voted to certify union representation two years ago, as did 14 roads workers in Pawnee County.

Among the larger groups approving unions were support staff at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, teachers in Kimball and city workers in Gering.

St. Paul, situated 20 miles north of Grand Island, is a good example of what's happening.

The city's employees did not get a salary increase last year because of tight budgets, City Clerk Janet Greenwalt said.

Ed Thompson, a city electrical lineman for the past 26 years, said St. Paul employees also worried about possible changes in health insurance benefits.

Plus, Thompson said, he has watched salaries for less experienced linemen at the local Howard-Greeley Rural Public Power District, who are unionized, grow to $3 an hour more in recent years.

"We've seen how successful they've become," Thompson said.

By law, public employers must pay wages comparable to those paid in similar-size towns, counties or school districts. That is true whether employees are represented by a union or not, although Thompson and others said it would be cost-prohibitive for workers, without union backing, to take a case to the State Commission of Industrial Relations, which rules on wage disputes and oversees union certification elections.

During the past two years, only one union was decertified, by Cass County roads workers, according to Annette Hord, clerk-administrator for the commission. Roads workers in Thurston County, however, recently voted 8-3 against certifying a union, she said.

In St. Paul, the city has hired an attorney who specializes in dealing with unions and a negotiator to help hammer out a contract with IBEW Local Union 1597.

Greenwalt said that will add thousands of dollars of expense to the city, but she can understand why workers opted to unionize: "All in all, they're trying to protect what they have."

Nebraska public employees unionizing

2002-2003 fiscal year:
ESU 13, Arlington schools support staff, Arlington school secretaries, Jackson teachers, ESU 3 physical therapists,
*Cass County road workers, Dixon County Sheriff's Office, Pawnee County road workers, Northeast Nebraska Rural Public Power District, North Platte city workers.

2003-2004:
Gering, St. Paul and Holdrege city workers, Kimball educators, Papillion-La Vista schools maintenance workers, McCook and Wayne city police, Metropolitan Community College support staff.
* Voted to decertify in 2003-2004
Source: State Commission of Industrial Relations

Contact the Omaha World-Herald newsroom

Copyright ©2004 Omaha World-Herald®.