By Daniel C. Vock Stateline Staff Writer
The first time his union went on strike Peter Benner was surprised. But the three-week work stoppage by Minnesota state employees in 1981 taught him a lot about the relationship between public workers and their employers. So two decades later Benner could tell early on that another strike was likely. It was only a question of when it was going to happen" he says.
In 2001 Governor Jesse Venturas administration wanted employees who had endured 10 years of tight-budget contracts to pay more for their health insurance even as Ventura and lawmakers were giving away tax rebates. The workers objected and more than half of Minnesotas state workforce walked off the job in October. The two-week strike of some 30000 employees was the biggest work stoppage by state employees that Minnesota has ever experienced.
The strike raised the ante for both sides at the bargaining table. As chief negotiator for the unions Benner worried whether his members would remain committed enough to stay off the job if it meant missing a paycheck. On the other side state management negotiators wondered how long they could keep vital services going with a depleted workforce. After the initial excitement the two sides sat down and struck a deal.
State employee labor strikes are rare. The 2001 Minnesota walkout was the biggest in recent memory. But labor tensions are running so high right now in Wisconsin that the idea is not far from anyones mind.
The state has seen calls for a general strike although they have died down in recent days. Labor is focusing its efforts on recalling state senators who voted for a new law to significantly weaken the power of public employee unions. Still the situation remains volatile. More than 100000 people attended a Capitol protest Saturday including farmers who ringed the square with dozens of tractors.
Alex Colvin a professor at Cornell Universitys School of Industrial and Labor Relations says a general strikeone involving people other than the workers affected directlywould be a marked departure for public sector unions. Its not like a New York or Philadelphia transit strike where its about money" he says. This is really about collective bargaining rights. Its about political power. And if theres a strike its going to be a different kind of strike."
What is happening in Wisconsin and other states right now is fraught with huge implications" adds Joseph McCartin the director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University. Republicans are undertaking a general assault on public sector union power. Given the fact that public sector workers now comprise more than one-half of the membership of the union movement the stakes are large."
Benner who has since retired from his position with the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) sees the same build-up of worker anger in Wisconsin now that he did a decade ago in Minnesota. Even if the unions avoid going on strike he says the pent-up labor frustration could hurt Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker down the road as he seeks to carry out his program. Workers are your resource" he warns. Thats whether youre a multibillion dollar CEO or a governor or a mayor or a school board member."
The right to strike
The law signedand championedby Walker includes many new rules making life more difficult for public employee unions. Every year a majority of workers who belong to a union will have to vote to keep it in operaton. State workers will now be able to opt out of paying union dues. Unions will be allowed to bargain only on wages not benefits or working conditions and wage increases must be at or below the rate of inflation unless voters direct otherwise in a referendum.
Another provision allows managers to fire workers who strike for three days. The measure addresses a frequent criticism that public employees have undue influence when they go on strike.
The government generally has no competition" writes James Sherk of the conservative Heritage Foundation. The public cannot purchase alternative police; alternatives to public education and mass transit are not accessible to everyone. A monopoly on essential services gives government unions tremendous leverage to force concessions from the public. Unless the voters elected representatives give in they can grind large parts of the economy to a halt."
Many states forbid their employees from striking. But some offer alternative ways for unions and managers to resolve disputes. New York turns to an arbitrator to dictate a settlement. If you have a strong union and youre just trying to eliminate strikes and you dont provide any alternatives" Colvin says then theres a danger youre actually going to provoke strikes because youre just pushing the workers backs to the wall."
Strikes have taken place under all sorts of arrangements. In Pennsylvania public employee unions were given the right to strike in 1970. The law granting them that right was passed after years of illegal disruptions by government workers. A commission that proposed the law said public employees had been going on strike because they were not allowed to bargain collectively.
Just five years later Pennsylvania suffered a major work stoppage. Some 46000 workers walked off the job. Most returned after three days but workers who processed unemployment checks did not strike a deal until three weeks later.
Lessons learned
Benner the Minnesota union negotiator says going through one strike 20 years before the 2001 negotiations helped both sides understand better how the process would unfold. For the unions that meant realizing that their walkout would not immediately cripple state government. For management it meant realizing they could only stretch their resources for so long.
The success for either side Benner says rests with public opinion. A public sector strike in that sense is a political event" he says. The general public clearly influences whether there is a strike in the first place and then the ability of the workers and their union or the elected officials and their supporters to sustain their position."
In Minnesota in 2001 union support was especially high in small towns and rural areas. People in those areas tended to identify with state employees who worked at the highway district headquarters the nearby state college or the state-run hospital. We were winning that battle of public opinion because (they were) all neighbors" Benner says. And the governor is that guy down in St. Paul."
STATE STRIKES
State employee strikes have been unusual in recent times. The specialty publisher BNA counted 24 strikes by public employees in the last five years but none of them were by state workers.
Public employee strikes are rarer today than they were a generation ago" says Joseph McCartin of Georgetown University. Several factors are at work he says. Some of those include a reluctance by government employees to strike after President Reagan fired 11000 air traffic controllers in 1981; a growing fear that public employees would be blamed for work stoppages; and a general decline in strikes overall in both the public and private sectors.
Notable strikes by state workers include:
•A two-week strike by 30000 workers in Minnesota in 2001
•A two-day walk-out by 5000 workers in Montana in 1991
•A nine-day rolling strike" in Oregon in 1987
•A 22-day strike by 14000 Minnesota workers in 1981
•A wildcat" strike of up to 3000 New Jersey employees in 1979
•A two-week strike of 18000 Wisconsin workers in 1977
•A strike by 46000 Pennsylvanians in 1975
•A two-week strike by 4000 Ohio employees in 1974
Source: Historical news accounts
Pew Charitable Trusts librarian Sage Hulsebus contributed to this story.
