The bill would mandate a three-member arbitration panel be used to decide contract disputes between cities and their public safety unions, which by law may not strike to gain leverage in the bargaining process. The council voted 3-2 to postpone the issue because Vice Mayor Rob Wood Councilwoman Pauline Clancy and Councilman Len Augustine said they were not familiar enough with the bill to take a position. Mayor David Fleming said the vote effectively would quash any official opposition to the bill because Davis is expected to sign it shortly after the Legislature reconvenes next week - before the next council meeting. And I'd like to know more. It would put the cost of the arbitrators on the shoulders of the unions, which Capt.
Collective bargaining is where unions and their employers set pay scales and working conditions.
Fleming has contended that the city could lose its ability to manage working conditions and organizational matters if an arbitrator decided them in a collective bargaining agreement to which both sides would be bound for the length of the contract. The mayor said his ultimate opposition was not to binding arbitration but to its imposition by the Legislature. I resent that. Wood was inclined to agree philosophically. But he then said he wanted more time to study or investigate the bill.