Correcting a labor injustice in N.C.

RALEIGH -- In North Carolina, there are thousands upon thousands of workers who are union members. Our neighbors working at employers such as Miller Brewing, Goodyear, AT&T and Yellow Freight all have exercised their constitutional right to bargain collectively.

So why can't police officers in Charlotte, school custodians in Greensboro, firefighters on the Outer Banks, state workers in Raleigh and teachers in Asheville enjoy the same fundamental American workplace right?

Because North Carolina is one of only two states that prohibit public employees from collective bargaining.

The legislation robbing public employees of their rights was the result of an organizing drive at the Charlotte Police Department a half-century ago. Elected leaders in the Queen City, along with the editorial page at the Charlotte Observer, stoked the fires of worst-case scenarios if the police officers dared exercise their constitutional right.

Something had to be done, and Mecklenburg County state Rep. Frank Snepp Jr. led his delegation in introducing a bill to take away workers' rights. N.C. General Statute 95-98 was passed by the General Assembly in May 1959, and Gov. Luther Hodges promptly signed it into law. As a result, North Carolina's public employees were relegated to second-class citizenship.

THIS OVERREACTION IGNORED A FUNDAMENTAL TRUTH. One of the most basic rights in the American workplace is the right to bargain collectively for wages, benefits and work responsibilities. In the first half of the 20th century, the exercising of these rights provided many of the benefits that workers now take for granted.

Were it not for the labor movement, benefits such as the weekend, a 40-hour week, pensions and health-care would not exist. Make no mistake, corporate America didn't grant these benefits because it wanted to; it did so because it had to. Unions bargained for those benefits.

This truth has been ignored and left up on a shelf for too long. North Carolina now has a chance to restore these basic workplace rights to its public employees. A coalition of labor unions, environmentalists, social justice and faith-based groups has formed the N.C. H.O.P.E. Coalition. The acronym stands for Hear Our Public Employees.

The coalition is supporting House Bill 1583, which would overturn the ban on collective bargaining. As expected, the usual cast of characters led by business interests is playing chicken little. The sky will fall if municipalities are allowed to collectively bargain.

These interests haul out the tired threat that our police officers and teachers may strike and hurt public services.

Of course, this isn't true. There is a separate statute that bans public employees from striking, and HB 1583 would leave that untouched. Public employees could not strike. Neither would municipalities be compelled to bargain. The legislation merely lifts the ban and allows the state, a county or town to bargain if it chooses to do so.

We know the fight is tough. During this short session of the General Assembly, there is actually more support than ever for correcting this injustice. Labor unions and employee associations representing police officers, teachers, state employees and firefighters are going to walk the halls of Jones Street and make sure that legislators understand the issue. We are going to make sure that the enemies of working families do not let their half-truths rule the debate.

Along with members of the public, we can ensure that public employees have the same rights as their counterparts in the private sector.

(James Andrews is president of the state chapter of the AFL-CIO. More information is at http://nchope.org.)