Unity Team vows to carry on fight for better salaries, working conditions

Retraction of state employee collective bargaining rights was the first order of business for newly inaugurated Republican governors in Indiana and Missouri.

In Indiana, Gov. Mitch Daniels rescinded collective bargaining rights and contracts for 23,000 state employees, including 14,000 workers represented by the Unity Team, a joint local of AFT Public Employees and the United Auto Workers.

Indiana state employees gained collective bargaining rights in 1989 through an executive order signed by Gov. Evan Bayh. Every governor since has honored that order, which permitted state employees to negotiate pay, benefits and work rules. Unfortunately, the terms of the executive order were never adopted into law, allowing for the rights of workers to be determined by the whims of each new governor.

Despite the setback, the Unity Team remains focused on representing its members. “Our work continues, and together we can improve the lives of Indiana state employees and their families,” Unity Team president Fuzz LeMay, a member of the AFT Public Employees program and policy council, wrote in a letter posted on the union’s Web site (www.unityteam.org). “More than ever, state employees need a voice in the decisions that affect their work. Through our work together, we can continue to provide that voice at the work site, in the halls of the Legisla-ture and in the governor’s office.”

“Both national unions will be providing assistance and expertise to help the Unity Team in its transition,” says Steve Porter, director of the AFT Public Employees department, noting that the Unity Team’s Web site is updated regularly, providing current information on what the union is doing on behalf of its members.

“This union is not going away,” says AFT president Edward J. McElroy. “The AFT is committed to supporting state employees in Indiana, giving them a voice on the job and in the state Legislature. Our union will continue to represent our members through all means available. We urge our members to remain steadfast in the fight to preserve workers’ rights and improve state government.”

Missouri’s new Republican Gov. Matt Blunt also repealed his predecessor’s executive order granting bargaining rights to state employees. About 9,000 state employees are represented by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union in the state.

AFL-CIO president John Sweeney said the actions in Indiana and Missouri “echo a message coming from the White House down to men and women on the frontlines of our struggles against poverty, disease, crime and terrorism all across our country: We expect first-class devotion, service and sacrifice, but we will treat you like second-class citizens.” Sweeney pledged that the AFL-CIO and its affiliated unions “will redouble our efforts to guarantee all workers in our country the fundamental freedom to join and form unions to improve their lives.”

“The direction these two governors have taken is misguided,” says Jim McGarvey, an AFT vice president and chair of the AFT Public Employees program and policy council. “Public employee collective bargaining has demonstrated its value across the country and has shown that real improvement in the delivery of public services comes with employees having meaningful input into the decisions that affect their work. Through collective bargaining and effective representation, we can improve services and improve the work lives of public employees.”