B.S. The proposal is to make union negotiations for public employee unions operate under the same rules as private sector unions. And there is a good reason for excluding police and firefighters.
The general principle behind collective bargaining is that while one employee may have virtually no bargaining power against the employer, even if he threatens to withhold his labor, collectively all of the employees negotiating together do have some bargaining power. Each side presents their offers/demands. If an agreement can't be reached, the employees have the option of withholding their labor (going out on strike). I wholeheartedly agree with and support this system.
But what has happened in some states, like Iowa, is that public employee unions have successfully included into their law something called "interest arbitration." Interest arbitration works this way. Each side enters negotiations. An agreement can't be reached. One side, usually the employees, demand interest arbitration and an arbitrator is selected. The arbitrator then considers the last position of each party and decides which one shall be included into the contract. This puts public agencies into a very difficult position. They try to make good faith offers, usually a raise in wages of some %. But the employees are then "freerolling." Say they are offered a 3% raise. They can hold to a final position of say 6%. Worst case scenario is they get the 3%.
This doesn't exist in the private sector, at least as far as I know, although I think unions have tried to get it through Congress.
All Iowa is trying to do is to say to its employees, if you don't like our offer, you are free to go out on strike, just like any other union. And like any other employer, Iowa public agencies will have to weigh the harm of its employees striking for any length of time.
The reason police and firefighter are typically precluded from striking, and thus afforded the right to interest arbitration, is that as a matter of public policy we need our firefighters and police on the job.
