By Joe Rogalsky,
Delaware State News
DOVER — Legislation that would give state employees the right to bargain for wages, vacation time and other benefits squeaked through the Senate on a 12-9 vote Tuesday.
"State employees are denied input regarding decisions that are among the most important of their lives," said Sen. Robert I. Marshall, D-Wilmington, chief sponsor of Senate Bill 53.
"State employee pay lags behind other states' for similar positions in the public sector and the private sector. Although this bill does not directly address the pay inequities, it provides a way for the state and its employees to address these issues."
A few groups of employees, such as the Delaware State Police, can already negotiate with the state for pay and time off.
SB 53 would establish 11 groups of employees, divided by job classification, which could choose to form a bargaining unit and negotiate.
The legislature would retain the final authority on whether to appropriate money to fund a pay scale included in a contract.
Currently, pay policy and other personnel issues are handled in the budget writing Joint Finance Committee.
Under the bill, for example, all equipment operators would be in a bargaining group, regardless of the state agency they work for.
"This is a critical piece of legislation for state employees," said Michael A. Begatto, who represents about 6,000 state workers through the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
"It's something they have worked on for many years."
The bill does not allow employees to negotiate on certain issues, such as health care benefits, pension benefits and benefits for retired workers.
The provision of Delaware law prohibiting employees from striking would be unchanged by the bill.
"Delaware is the only state in mid-Atlantic region that denies its employees the right to negotiate," Sen. Marshall said.
"State employees are the only public employees in Delaware denied the right to negotiate pay."
Legislators opposed to the bill worried that contract negotiations could disrupt the state's normal budgeting process, which begins in earnest in May.
"I don't see how this would fit into what we do now," said Sen. James T. Vaughn, D-Clayton, a longtime member of the Joint Finance Committee.
Senate Minority Leader Sen. John C. Still III, R-Dover, had other objections to the bill.
"We already deal with benefits and pay for state employees," he said.
"The union would be redundant. This year state employees could get a raise package worth $47 million. I don't think you would have seen that much if a union negotiated. They would be paying dues for nothing."
Staff writer Joe Rogalsky can be reached at 741-8226 or jrogalsky@newszap.com.
Reprinted with permission by newszap.com
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