Union leaders across Massachusetts are decrying a provision of Governor Mitt Romney’s budget plan that will deny union membership to public employees who meet a broader set of managerial criteria set forth by the administration.
If passed by the legislature this month, Romney’s recommendation will redefine the title of ‘manager’ to include employees the state presently considers ‘supervisors.’ Anywhere between 6,000 and 7,000 state workers managed by the executive branch will become managers under the new plan, making them ineligible for union benefits.
‘It’s just plain and simple union busting,’ said Robert McCarthy, president of the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts. ‘[Romney] has got to realize that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is not a business; it’s a government. We have laws to prevent these things.’
McCarthy estimated that 3,000 employees in his union would potentially be considered managerial under the new standards.
According to Romney’s fiscal year 2004 budget proposal, a managerial employee should be defined as any individual whose principal functions are characterized by ‘responsibility for direction of a subunit, development, implementation and evaluation of goals and objective; participation in the formulation of agency policy; a substantial role in the preparation or administration of collective bargaining agreements or substantial personnel decisions; or the exercise of independent judgment in the administration of a collective bargaining agreement or in personnel administration.’
United Food and Commercial Workers spokesman Peter Derouen said the managerial reform is a ‘typical ploy by management to weaken the collective bargaining strength of the unit.’
Derouen said he fears that if the state proposal is approved, private industries may follow suit to limit private workers’ unions as well.
‘On the whole, this type of move sends a bad message to public employees, but private sector employees will be looking at this, too,’ Derouen said.
Still, union officials claim skeptical legislators will strike down Romney’s reform by the end of the month.
‘They’re not just going to let him change a hundred years of labor just over night,’ said Ed Gillooly, spokesman for the National Association of Government Employees. ‘Massachusetts was the second state to put civil service and seniority rights protection in, and he basically wants to go back to a patronage society.’
Gillooly said Romney’s reorganization of the public workforce will not affect the state’s efficiency and is therefore ineffective.
‘The state won’t save anything,’ he said. ‘[Romney] is just shifting people around and taking away their benefits and protection.’
House Speaker Thomas Finneran was unavailable for comment, but legislature is expected to make a decision by the end of April.
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