Lawmaker Calls For Open Union Negotiations

By Andrew Staub | PA Independent

State Sen. Ryan Aument wants to shine a light into Pennsylvania’s figurative back room.

The Lancaster County Republican introduced a bill that would amend the state’s open-meetings law to require public notice and access to any meeting — local or state — in which a public-sector union contract is negotiated.

The general thrust behind the legislation is a basic idea: Taxpayers ultimately pay for the costs of union contracts, so they should be privy to the negotiations that lead to those expenses.

“I don’t see any good reason for those conversations to be happening behind closed doors,” said Aument, who introduced the legislation during Sunshine Week, a national celebration of open government and public information.

The bill would apply to the upcoming negotiations among Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat who took office in January, and 16 government unions. The total cost of those deals could exceed $3 billion, based on past agreements.

United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1776 represents more than 1,400 employees in state-run liquor stores. Its $86.1 million contract expires at the end of June, but union President Wendell Young IV isn’t a fan of the prospect of open negotiations.

“I think it’s rather bizarre,” he said. “You can take things to an extreme. This is an example of it.”

Voters choose their elected officials, who are charged with carrying out the negotiations, Young said. Voters unhappy with the agreements their representatives broker can always make a change on Election Day.

“If I don’t like it, I can remove my public officials,” he said.

That doesn’t change the fact contracts could be signed and taxpayers already footing the bill by the time ballots are cast, Aument said.

Young said Aument’s legislation would set a different standard for public-sector unions than for private contractors, such as the municipal trash haulers who negotiate deals at taxpayer expense, Young said. He characterized the senator’s bill as an attack on workers.

Aument is open to a continuing conversation, he said, but he wants to focus on public-sector union negotiations first, because their deals often contain provisions that drive up the costs and size of government.

Former Gov. Tom Corbett, a Republican, negotiated contracts in 2011 that included an 11.24 percent increase in costs over four years, according to the Commonwealth Foundation, a conservative-leaning free-market think tank in Harrisburg.

State Sen. Mike Folmer, R-Lebanon, tried to dig into the issue during a budget hearing earlier this week, asking whether Wolf’s proposed spending plan takes into account any increased costs that could result from the negotiations.

Wolf’s budget secretary, Randy Albright, sidestepped the question and a handful of follow-ups.

“I am obviously not at liberty to talk more about the status of those conversations right now,” Albright said. “All I can say at this point is that we are optimistic that we hope to have most, if not all, of those labor agreements in place before the beginning of the next state fiscal year.”

Folmer said he was pressing for information in the spirit of transparency, considering union agreements would play into balancing next year’s budget.

“I don’t know where the money is going to be coming from,” Folmer said. “I don’t think it’s going to be created by elves in a hollow tree somewhere. It’s going to come from taxpayer dollars.”

That back-and-forth caught the attention of Nate Benefield, vice president of policy analysis at the Commonwealth Foundation.

“This exchange highlights the lack of transparency in the negotiating process,” he said in a statement. “ … Because the process is so opaque, taxpayers end up getting a bill before they have any idea what they’re buying.”

The Commonwealth Foundation has been calling on Wolf to open contract talks, especially considering he will negotiate the deals after accepting $2.6 million in campaign contributions from six government unions.

While Wolf has taken steps to improve transparency in the governor’s office, such as publicizing his daily calendar, more openness in contract negotiations would mitigate conflicts of interests with unions, the Commonwealth Foundation argued.

Jeff Sheridan, Wolf’s press secretary, did not return a message seeking comment about Aument’s legislation.

According to Aument, 10 states already require either full or limited access to bargaining sessions for public-sector employees, but Young said putting parties in front a camera is an “ingredient for disaster.”

“It just lends itself to grandstanding and all kinds of posturing,” he said, “… enough of that occurs anyway in private.”