Unions take on regents, state over bargaining rules

Unions representing tens of thousands of employees - including many across Iowa's public universities - are accusing the state and the Board of Regents of acting in bad faith by ignoring collective bargaining rules and instead putting off contract negotiations to see if lawmakers overhaul the law this year.

AFSCME Iowa Council 61 - which represents 40,000 public employees, including many staffers at Iowa State University - filed a 'prohibited practice” complaint with the Public Employment Relations Board this week accusing the state of bad-faith bargaining.

United Faculty, which represents about 550 University of Northern Iowa faculty members, filed a similar complaint Friday against the Board of Regents, accusing it of stalling negotiations.

'They are waiting to see if that legislation would bring them any advantages at the bargaining table,” said Joe Gorton, a UNI professor and president of United Faculty. 'I think that's pretty obvious.”

The University of Iowa's graduate student union - which goes by COGS, or Campaign to Organize Graduate Students - also reports the board is refusing to meet again before Feb. 20.

'The regents are waiting until the Legislature acts so they can possibly take insurance and tuition scholarships out of our contract,” according to a statement from COGS, which represents 2,183 graduate students employed as teaching or research assistants.

Regents spokesman Josh Lehman, without commenting on those specific assertions, said the board 'is continuing to follow the prescribed process of negotiation.”

'The board will continue to work to address concerns regarding pay and benefits, now and in the future,” Lehman said in a statement.

He later provided a schedule showing that United Faculty and COGS previously had agreed to reserve Feb. 20 and 21, respectively, for mediation and March 1 and 2 for arbitration.

The Service Employees International Union Local 199, which represents 2,500 professional and scientific workers for UI Health Care, declined to comment.

UI Graduate College Dean John Keller confirmed that 'strong rumors” the Legislature would consider changes to collective bargaining rules - including potentially eliminating mandatory bargaining subjects - has the board on hold for now.

'The regents have indicated to us that it's their desire to wait to see what, if anything, happens with Chapter 20 before approving any contracts that might come their way - like ours with COGS or SEIU or at UNI,” Keller said. 'That is the word that I have received. The bottom line is we're sort of on suspended animation, as it were, in terms of our ability to negotiate.”

Regardless of what happens at the state, Keller has vowed to fight for UI graduate students. He issued a statement arguing the UI 'must continue to offer a competitive employment package, including salary and benefits, in order to remain competitive for the recruitment of high-quality students.”

But, Keller said, he can't make promises.

'It's not within my power to do that,” he said. 'It's like preparing the what-ifs. We don't know what direction those are going to go, and it's hard to come up with plans and to promise something when you don't know what challenges might be ahead of you.”

Sen. Bob Dvorsky, D-Coralville, disagrees with the holding pattern.

'They need to work with what is in existing law right now,” he said. 'In anything else we do, we deal with existing law. That's the way everything works. That's the way the legal system works. They need to move forward.”

If negotiators on behalf of the regents don't, Dvorsky said, 'I don't view that as bargaining in good faith.”

He also noted four regents are up for state Senate confirmation this spring, and they need support from 34 senators to pass. Even with recent Republican gains, the regents need five others - from Democrats or the Senate's sole independent - to win approval.

UNI's Gorton justified its legal action Friday by saying: 'There are provisions in state law related to bad-faith bargaining, and we think their refusal to come to the bargaining table right now is based in bad faith.”

Gorton said he and his colleagues are worried not just about what changes could mean for faculty contracts, benefits and pay, but to their ability to fight for bargaining rights.

'We don't know what their legislation is going to be - they could come up with a bill that would make it impossible to file a prohibited practices complaint,” Gorton said. 'This is all very troubling on an ethical level.”

Landon Elkind, president of the UI graduate student union, said he and his colleagues are concerned about potential changes to their health care benefits and tuition scholarships.

Heading into talks for the next two-year contract, each side in the fall exchanged initial proposals. Elkind said the union made a counteroffer Dec. 5. It reduced the union's initial position, but the board - instead of taking the offer or bargaining more - refused negotiations or mediation until Feb. 21.

Elkind has requested Keller clarify his position advocating for competitive salaries and benefits. He has not heard back.

Keller said the board is taking a 'bear with us position” but he, too, is stymied.

'This is very frustrating, concerning for both of us - on my side of things as well as theirs - for different reasons,” he said. 'We want to comfort and assuage the fears of our current students and faculty … as well as we're in the midst of recruitment season.”

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