An Idaho Senate panel agreed to another restriction on labor unions Monday, approving a plan to stop unions from shifting money to supplement workers’ wages. It’s the second plan the Senate State Affairs Committee approved in less than a week that some contractors support but has raised red flags from the attorney general’s office.
The legislation would prevent unions from using market recovery funds collected from union workers to pay other workers on a contracted project. Unions could use the funds to allow contractors with union workers to submit lower bids for construction projects. Opponents of market recovery call it a job targeting program, and say it reduces competition and opportunities for non-union workers in Idaho.
Sen. Monty Pearce, R-New Plymouth, compared job targeting funds to politicians receiving money under the table. “We want to level the playing field for all Idaho workers and contractors,” Pearce said. “This bill is about freedom. It’s about freedom to protect our workers and our workforce.”
The attorney general’s office has weighed in twice on the plan. Assistant Chief Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane wrote in a letter last week it would be problematic to defend the legislation against federal labor laws. On Monday, Kane told lawmakers the legislation could stand up to a simple constitutional challenge, but could be pre-empted by federal laws and regulations.
“The best I can give you is a lawyerly ‘it depends,’” Kane told lawmakers. “We’ve got a shot.”
Lawyers representing both sides of the issue debated whether the law could survive a legal challenge. “There’s a clear, deeply rooted state interest with regard to compulsory unionism,” said Judd Lees, representing the Associated Builders and Contractors, which backed the plan.
“There’s no reason Idaho needs to make itself the guinea pig,” said James Piotrowski, a Boise attorney representing the AFL-CIO labor union. “Job targeting programs are actually protected by federal law.”
Committee members approved the plan on a party-line vote, with the two Democrats on the committee opposing the plan. “This bill doesn’t allow for the level playing field,” said Sen. Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum. “It adds further burden, onto a situation that’s unnecessary, for possible litigation.”
The committee also cast a party-line vote on Jan. 26 on legislation that would prevent state and local governments from requiring contractors on construction projects to enter into agreements that would set wages and benefits for workers. Both plans now head to the Senate for a full vote.
[...] lawsuit, the state wouldn’t be on the hook to defend the law. A lawyer for the AFL-CIO union told a Senate panel that he’d litigate the plan, as well as another that strengthens Idaho’s right-to-work [...]