Collective bargaining debated at Legislature

Erin Neff

Friday, Feb. 21, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The tax battle is yet to be waged in the Legislature, but some of the first volleys were fired Thursday during a hearing on collective bargaining for state employees.

Democratic lawmakers had the lobbyist for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce in their cross hairs.

The chamber is the biggest opponent of Gov. Kenny Guinn's proposed gross receipts tax, and that makes the chamber's lobbyist, Sam McMullen, the leading spokesman against the tax.

Thursday, however, he was speaking out against collective bargaining by state employees. He told members of the Legislature that they -- not a collective bargaining agreement -- should dictate how much Nevada spends on state salaries, particularly in light of the budget deficit.

"It changes the balance in so many ways," McMullen said of Assembly Bill 65, which would permit collective bargaining for state employees. "It adds politics to the issue of bargaining and negotiations."

McMullen, one of the state's premier lobbyists, argued that a bargained agreement would force the Legislature to fund increased salaries.

"In a year like this, it's really difficult to think of a process like this," McMullen said. "If you have a bargained agreement, each of you has to look the state employees in the eye and say ... there's no money."

A majority of members on the Assembly Government Affairs Committee were not too pleased with his comments, particularly given the Las Vegas Chamber's staunch opposition to the proposed gross receipts tax on business.

"So, Mr. McMullen, what you're saying is, you think it's a good thing to balance the budget on the backs of state workers," said Assemblywoman Ellen Koivisto, D-Las Vegas.

At the end of the 2001 session, McMullen had promised the chamber would part of any future broad-based tax solution. The chamber has staunchly opposed the gross receipts tax -- which the governor and a task force identified as key to getting Nevada out of its $704 million deficit.

Assemblyman Bob McCleary, D-North Las Vegas, said he did not understand McMullen's opposition to collective bargaining through the prism of the budget discussion.

As a freshman legislator, McCleary said he has been amazed by the level of professionalism state employees embody and "was appalled when I found out how poorly they're paid."

"I don't see a balance," McCleary said. "Historically, employers have abused their employees and that's why unions have come about."

Union officials and state employees' representatives implored the committee to pass the bill for the state's 15,000 public employees.

"What's really frustrating state workers is simply getting a simple problem resolved," said Scott MacKenzie, executive director of the State of Nevada Employees Association.

"State workers are fed up," MacKenzie said after the hearing. "The chamber of commerce is very shortsighted in what they're doing.

"The chamber's got its head in the sand," he added.

Danny Thompson, secretary treasurer of the Nevada AFL-CIO, said the bill corrects inequities between what a state employee is paid versus what local government employees make for comparable work.