Municipal unions OK�d

By John Greiner
Published: March 15, 2006

Reversing itself Tuesday, the state Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a municipal government collective bargaining act affecting Oklahoma's larger cities.

The opinion strikes down the court's own July 5 ruling that said the act that applies to cities with populations greater than 35,000 was unconstitutional.

Cities affected by Tuesday's ruling are Broken Arrow, Edmond, Enid, Lawton, Midwest City, Moore, Muskogee, Norman, Oklahoma City, Stillwater and Tulsa.

The law applies to nonuniformed municipal employees, including those working in city jobs such as sanitation, libraries and water departments.

While those on the winning side Tuesday praised the decision, a Stillwater city official said the ruling could be costly for cities affected by the opinion. The Supreme Court's ruling involved a case in which the city of Enid challenged the bargaining law.

An Oklahoma County judge sided with Enid and the case was appealed. Last July, the Supreme Court said the collective bargaining act passed by the 2004 Legislature was unconstitutional. In its 5-4 opinion Tuesday on a request for a rehearing, the court reversed its July opinion saying: "We hold that the act is a general law of statewide concern that contains a proper and legitimate classification of municipalities with a population greater than 35,000.

Justice Marian Opala disagreed. "If municipal workers' bargaining rights are a matter of state interest, any regulation of this arena ought to be extended to all municipalities, Opala wrote in his dissent. Justice James Winchester was the only justice to change his position from the July ruling. In July he voted with those who said the law was unconstitutional. Tuesday he voted just the opposite, siding with the court's majority. He could not be reached for comment.

Unions pleased

Sue Wycoff, who, with James R. Moore, represented the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in the lawsuit, said, "We're delighted, and we think the court is right.

Jimmy Curry, president of the Oklahoma State AFL-CIO, said his organization believed all along that it was constitutional to have the population threshold of greater than 35,000 in the law.

A bill pending in the Senate to apply the law to all cities will be withdrawn, Curry said.

Blaine Rummel of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, called Tuesday's ruling "a historic victory for freedom.

"All employees should have the freedom to decide for themselves whether to join a union. he said.

Cities scrambling

Dan Galloway, Stillwater's city manager, said, "The only thing I can say is it certainly has the potential of increasing costs for the cities, not necessarily to employees, but to the process itself. Bargaining is a costly process. It takes a lot of hours of staff time to work out terms of contracts and making certain legal staff review them.

Carol Lahman, Enid city attorney, said, "I think city administration preferred the first ruling, but the Supreme Court has decided that it is constitutional. I'm assuming that the city will proceed to take the steps needed to begin the process.

Lahman said there hasn't been time to talk with Enid's mayor and city commissioners about the ruling or to discuss it with the city manager. "But the decision is fairly straightforward and they are the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Lahman said. Jerry Erwin, Enid city manager, said Tuesday's ruling was "kind of a surprise. He said he doesn't know much about the ruling yet but obviously is disappointed.

Diane Pedicord, attorney for the Oklahoma Municipal League, said the league is very disappointed in the court's reversal. "We're perplexed, she said. Edmond City Manager Larry Stevens said city staff are reviewing the ruling and trying to find out how it will affect Edmond's organization. Staff members were scrambling to make copies of the ruling Tuesday afternoon to gauge the impact on the city. "We'll take a look at it, and see where we stand, he said.