Big (possibly contentious) weekend ahead for Iowa bargaining proposal

BETTENDORF - The proposed overhaul of Iowa's collective bargaining law is moving swiftly toward a vote in Des Moines, but labor leaders who face an uphill battle to try to stop it are hopeful this weekend will make a difference.

Lawmakers are back in their districts today, and at public forums or through email and other connections, critics of the proposal to revamp Iowa's 43-year-old collective bargaining law are hoping they'll be able to make some headway with Republicans who control the Legislature.

That was evident Friday morning at a Hy-Vee in Bettendorf, where more than 50 people packed into a small upstairs meeting room to implore Rep. Gary Mohr, R-Bettendorf, to oppose the legislation - or at least help slow it down.

Some in the audience called the bill an attack on unions and working people. They said it would drive down wages and put public safety workers at risk by changing work rules. Others said the proposal was moving too fast.

'Don't push something through just because you can't be stopped,” said Richard Lynch of Bettendorf, an adjunct professor and translator.

Eric Griffin, first vice president of the union representing Davenport firefighters, echoed that.

'To rush this through is really hard for me,” he said.

Most who spoke were critical of the bill, but not all. Don Kincaid of Bettendorf told Mohr that he backed the Republican plan and that, as a taxpayer, he wanted 'a seat at the table.”

He also had a different perspective on how fast the proposal was moving.

'How about the people on the other side of the bill ... who have been waiting 40 years for a change in this policy?” he asked.

Proponents of the change say that public-sector unions have too much power and that benefits and wages are too generous, a claim union officials reject.

The proposed overhaul, which was introduced Tuesday, would limit unions whose members aren't predominantly public safety workers to bargaining on wages. And even then, the bill would restrict arbitrators' wage awards.

Critics are hoping that by showing up at forums held by lawmakers this weekend, they'll have an impact. The Iowa State Education Association said it would have thousands of members at meetings across the state.

When Wisconsin curtailed its bargaining laws in 2011, tens of thousands of people flooded the state Capitol to oppose the changes. And while there have been sizable crowds in Des Moines opposing the bill, a top union official in the state said they're banking on constituents in cities and towns to have an impact, rather than a show of force at the Capitol.

'If we're going to change anything, it's going to be in the community. The Wisconsin experiment did not work,” Danny Homan, president of AFSCME Council 61, said this week. 'I was in Wisconsin. I was at some of the largest rallies I've been to in my life. I was in the Capitol when they took it over. That didn't change anybody's minds.”

Drew Klein, Iowa state director of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative group that supports the bill, said it is working with its base to encourage people to attend meetings, too. He acknowledged, however, they won't be able to match the number of bill opponents.

'I'm sure this will be a tough weekend for legislative forums,” he said. Still, he added, 'I think lawmakers are pretty firm in their approach to this.”

If Mohr's meeting Friday was any indication, the turnout will be lopsided.

He told the crowd he intends to vote how he thinks the majority of his district would want. Afterward, he said he hadn't made a judgment yet on what that would be.