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Home My WebLink AboutResolution - 388 - Opposes Granting Of Collective Baragaining To The IAFF Local 971, AFL-CIO - 01_10_1980(',_ �• JCR: cl R1RS0T.TTTT0M RESOLUTION #388 - 1/10/80 WHEREAS, the citizens of Lubbock have long been fortunate to be served by a professional and experienced fire department that is among the best in Texas, and WHEREAS, the Lubbock City Council has long recognized the outstanding service provided by these dedicated employees, and WHEREAS, the Lubbock City Council continues to provide the best wages, benefits and working conditions within our financial means, and WHEREAS, the Lubbock City Council is dedicated to continuing its policy of providing fair and equitable wages and benefits to all employees, and WHEREAS, collective bargaining in other cities has proven to be a costly and time-consuming procedure that has caused division between employees and management, and WHEREAS, collective bargaining in other states has proven to encourage strikes by government employees even though such strikes were prohibited by law, and WHEREAS, the Public Employee Department of the AFL-CIO has in the past supported the right of government employees to strike, and WHEREAS, an election will be held on Janaury 19, 1980 to determine whether or not the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 972, AFL-CIO, should be granted the right to engage in collective bargaining, and WHEREAS, in the opinion of the City Council the passage of this issue would tend to create a special privileged class of city employees separate and apart from other city employees who are not legally entitled to bargain col- lectively, and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that to grant special privileges to one class of city employee and not to all city employees would tend to create unequal and inequitable employment opportunities, create morale problems for the city and would be contrary to our personnel policies of fairness and equity: NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LUBBOCK: THAT the City Council of the City of Lubbock officially opposes the granting of collective bargaining to the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 972 because it is not in the best interest of the citizens of this city or in the best interests of economy in government. Passed by the,City Council this IOth day of January. 1980. A EST: NRVIWEST, MAYOR Evelyn Gaffga, City Secretar reasurer r APPROVED AS TO FORM: ohn C. Ross, Jr., City Attorney INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE FIGHTERS A pR6• 26 P. 0. BOX 1541 LOCAL 972 LUBBOCK, TEXAS 79408 q January 3, 1980 JAN 419p`Manaer Cittyy of Lubbock CITY SECREIARY 916 Texas Avenue Lubbock, Texas 19401 Sir, It is our understanding that on January 10, 1980, the Lubbock City Council -will consider a resolution against collective bargaining for any public employees. If this is correct, we of the Lubbock Professional Firefighters Association request space on the agenda so that spokesmen can speak on that resolution. Regards, Charles Alexander Member, Steering Committee c.c. City Secretary Fire Chief D1 JAN 4 1980 MY S CREYARY �TKrCLE F,eo� /gws %�w - li.-y ln' GAz"AI61 ZICI�SeC`_, IX79lssu6 Pubi Doc Workers Went Collectumve m m Bargaunung Un'gon Supprt Wsnomnc E .'- •+i:':� �•us _- z�-.a �a--+i�a"�,.,.fa-='�-_�. �'�a—**�-.�-t,��-;:,rr.--T-: ��._..;+��x^'�' -'"'c --'ta^�-� �a*�.�.+es ��--i—�.6.:'^'� Delegates to the 1979 AFL-CIO in Cleveland walked off the job for and by sharp hikes in the number Public Employees Te p —art ment eight weeks this fall. of public employee strikes. Coupled (PED) convention overwhelmin�y Another case in point involved with new union contracts calling for approved a--strongly-worded resolu- 7,700 public workers in Honolulu, big wage increases and unfavorable lion demanding collective bargain- who returned to work on December media coverage of union corruption, ing rights for all state and local 3 after a six -week walk -out over the image of trade unionism has ublic emplo ees. pay. Under their new contract, suffered greatly. The resolution also calls for refuse workers, school employees The American Federation of laws "to give public emoloyees the and other personnel will receive State, County & Municipal Em- right to withhold their labor"—i E., pay increases of 22 percent over ployees, the world's largest public is rike. the next 18 months. employee union, hopes to counter PED is headed by Howafd the public mood with an expensive McClennan resident of th Unions' Esteem on Downswing television advertising campaign de - national Association of Fire Fight- signed to promote a more favorable gam, and includes 33 uajgo§_Le4yg- senting 2 million federal state and Fola-1 workers. Public Strikers on Upswing A report issued by the U.S. Department of Labor prior to the PED convention showed that the number of public employees in- volved in strikes during 1979 was up dramatically over the corres- ponding period in 1978. According to the DOL, the number of public employee strikes during the first half of 1979 was about the same as in 1978-172 strikes in 1979 vs. 165 in 1978. But the number of workers involved in strikes had doubled: 34,700 public workers struck during the first 6 months in 1978 vs. 61,900 during the first half of 1979. The final statistics on public labor strike in 1979 will be swollen by mass walkouts this fall by local employees seeking pay hikes and improved working conditions. Thou- sands of Bay Area Rapid Transit employees in California, for ex- ample, recently went on strike for eleven weeks until they received a satisfactory contract. And 20,000 teachers and other school employees 20 According to a recent Gallup poll, public approval of unions has declined to the lowest point in over 43 years —from a 72 percent ap- proval margin in 1936 to 55 percent in 1979. The Gallup survey also shows widespread opposition to public employee strikes and, especially, strikes by policemen, firemen and teachers. Sixty-one percent of the public believes police and firemen should not be allowed to strike, while 50 percent of those polled believe teachers should be prohi- bited from striking. Although the American people have traditionally supported the right of public employees to join unions and engage In collective bargaining, they have just as consistently opposed giving govern- ment personnel the right to strike. Plagued by inflation, and con- fronting a growing militancy on the part of public employees, the public is taking an increasingly hard line on strikes by public employees. Labor professionals generally agree that public attitudes toward unions have been soured by the dramatic unionization of public employees during the past decade picture of public workers. AFS- CME's commercials are designed to show that public employees are no different from other workers. On another front, the AFL- CIO's education department is working with state and local officials in 5 states to develop a public school curriculum that explains the role of unions. According to the AFL-CIO, most textbooks associate unions with situations involving violence on picket lines and other unsavory events, and a more balanced view needs to be pre- sented. Union Rolls Lagging In 1979, union membership reached a record 21.7 million. But the proportion of American workers represented by unions has declined from an all-time high of 24.7 percent in 1970 to 22.2 percent this year. Also, unions are winning less than 50 percent of all of the representation elections conducted by the National Labor Relations Board, and a rapidly -growing num- ber of workers are voting to throw out their unions. ❑ Texas Town 6 My