Arizona unions have been quietly lobbying against the
set of anti-union bills being pushed by Republicans in the state Senate, and it appears that their efforts are achieving some success.
TPM cites a report in the state that:
“Senate President Steve Pierce and Senate Whip Frank Antenori expressed serious doubt that there were enough Republicans in the upper chamber willing to pass a bill ending collective bargaining,” the Guardian reported. Antenori described the bill’s chances as “questionable.”
The collective bargaining ban wasn't the only bill attacking public workers on the table, however. Other bills would prevent public workers from having union dues deducted from their paychecks and end the ability of union stewards and other representatives to spend work time on certain union functions, such as contract negotiations or handling grievances. Gov. Jan Brewer is also pushing a proposal to make it easier to fire state workers. According to TPM, "As of Wednesday afternoon, none of the measures were scheduled for a full vote of the Senate."
Passage of any of these bills would be a real blow to Arizona's public workers. But given the Republican majority in the Arizona legislature, if any of the bills don't pass, it will be a win.
Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 10:16 AM PT: The anti-collective bargaining bill remains stalled, but Thursday, the Arizona Senate passed a bill that would require public workers to authorize deductions of their union dues each year. A competing bill would have prohibited dues deductions at all.