Tea Party Gearing Up for Next Battle with Unions
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
The Rhode Island Tea Party is gearing up for a major battle with unions this year over several key issues, including binding arbitration for teachers, union membership requirements, and how health insurance benefits are determined.
“There’s no getting around the fiscal crisis we’re in without addressing these issues with the unions,” said Tea Party President Colleen Conley. “It’s unsustainable.”
One of the top items on the Tea Party agenda is opposing another effort to require that school districts enter into binding arbitration with teacher unions. Union-backed legislation failed last year, but Tea Party officials are confident they will face a re-match this year. The anti-spending, pro-taxpayer group also hopes to repeal binding arbitration which is already in place for municipal employees. “We need to repeal that so that towns and cities have the ability to re-negotiate contracts when they come up,” Conley said.
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Likewise, the Tea Party hopes to restructure the statewide teachers health insurance board which determines what health benefits school districts can choose from.
A majority of the 12-member board is comprised of union representations from the NEA, Council 94 of the American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, the Laborers International, and the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers and Health Professionals, according to Lisa Blais, a board member of the Tea Party. She said taxpayers are not represented on the board and that quorum rules allow unions to potentially control decisions. The Tea Party is hoping to amend the law to address both of those problems.
The Tea Party also wants to undo the state law mandating that public school teachers be members of the union. Blais said it’s not fair or appropriate for the school districts to terminate employees because they refuse to have union dues withdrawn from their paychecks—that’s between the union and the individual, she said.
With Republicans constituting a small minority in the General Assembly, Conley concedes it won’t be easy to achieve all of this. But she is also confident that the group can find lawmakers to sponsor its legislation, allowing the Tea Party to focus on rallying public opinion behind them.
Other key items on the Rhode Island Tea Party legislative agenda this year include:
■ Oppose any efforts to create a statewide teacher contract, which Conley said would create a “Race to the Top for teachers,” in which unions would seek to make the most generous benefits in any one district apply to the whole state.
■ End the practice of letting old contracts stay in effect if a new contract can’t be negotiated before it expires.
■ Require that school districts and municipalities participate in the state health insurance program, as long as the state program is cheaper than their local options.
■ Reinstitute the E-Verify program which Governor Chafee revoked.
■ Oppose the one percent sales tax and any new taxes.
■ End straight-ticket voting, also known as the master lever.
■ Require legal IDs in order to vote.
■ Repeal tangible property taxes on basic office equipment for small businesses.
■ Repeal the mandatory minimum $500 corporate tax.
■ Repeal the law that allows school committees to sue towns and cities over funding issues.
Photo credit: Michelle Angela Terranova
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