MontCo Bargaining Bills Derided as "Political Theater"
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)Calling them “an empty
façade,” “hypocritical” and “political theater,” UFCW/MCGEO President
blasted a trio of Montgomery County collective bargaining bills yesterday at a
packed Council hearing. The bills -- 18-11, 19-11 and 20-11 – would “turn
the collective bargaining process into a three-ring circus,” Renne warned
County Council-members. He called the bills “a waste of the County’s
resources and an affront to taxpayers and County workers to once again devote
more time and money to nibble around the edges trying to devise new ways to
hobble the collective bargaining law.” Renne pointed out that collective
bargaining for Montgomery County workers has been evolving since the early 1970s
and that the current system replaced an ineffective “meet and confer” system
with 1986 legislation that adopted full-scale negotiations on economics and
working conditions. Considering the issue more broadly, Metro Council President
Jos Williams added that he’s found it “disappointing and deeply frustrating
this year to find these sorts of attacks on public workers occurring here in
Montgomery County,” suggesting that “whatever it is that’s infected the
body politic in Wisconsin, in Ohio and in New Jersey seems to have seeped into
Montgomery County as well. Maybe it’s a virus in the water.
The
people who work for you – county employees and indeed all public
workers – are not the enemy," said Williams. "They’re taxpayers and
consumers and they’re voters, too. We need to work together to solve the
common economic problems we face. If we do not, the county will suffer,
as will the workers and ultimately, you too will have to face the
political consequences." ” Among those also testifying against the bills
were Jean Athey of Fund Our Communities, Elbridge James, Maryland NAACP, and
Rion Dennis, Executive Director of Progressive Maryland.
Photo (l-r): Jos Williams, Jean Athey, Elbridge James, Gino
Renne, Rion Dennis; photo by Greg Kenefick