How Much Authority do States Have Over Labor Rights?

A few weeks ago a federal court in Chicago issued a decision that received some comment on Daily Kos, and raised the question of how much authority states really have to regulate labor rights.  The case, Teamsters Local 727 v. Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority (MPEA), arose when the Illinois legislature amended the state statute governing operations at McCormick Place, a major convention venue in Chicago. 

The MPEA is a unit of local government created to promote business and tourism in Illinois.  The MPEA operates and manages McCormick place and contracts with a variety of private entities who lease space and arrange conventions.  Those private entitites bargain with unions such as the Teamsters and the Carpenters over labor agreements that establish the terms and conditions for labor at McCormick place.  The union laborers are private employees, not public employees, and therefore their collective bargaining rights are protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which is a federal law.  Over the last several decades, U.S. Supreme Court decisions have established that federal labor law preempts state law.  In other words, local and state governments cannot change or interfere with the rights that privately employed individuals have under the NLRA.  One exception to the preemption doctrine is that when states are contracting for services with private entities, the state can condition its business on the entities adhering to certain labor standards.  In other words, when a local government is acting as a consumer, it can makes demands similar to those that other consumers can make.

In 2010 the Illinois legislature amended the law governing MPEA operations, and in the process enacted provisions governing hours, wage rates, the size of work crews, and other working conditions of private employees at McCormick Place.  Parts of the amendments contradicted provisions in the existing collective bargaining agreements.  The Teamsters and Carpenters filed suit, claiming that the existing collective bargaining agreements were protected by federal labor law, and federal labor law preempts state law.  The federal district court in Chicago agreed, and enjoined the MPEA from enforcing those provisions of the law that attempted to govern the labor standards of the private employees at McCormick Place.

Despite the attention the decision received, it did not establish any new law, and it has little relevance to the immediate issues in Wisconsin.  Federal law protects private employees' labor rights.  Indeed it is a common fallacy that only unionized employees have protections under the NLRA.  The NLRA protects the right of nearly every private employee in the United States to join a labor union and bring a labor union into his or her workplace.  The NLRA requires employers to bargain in good faith with employees' bargaining representatives, provides a vehicle for enforcing collective bargaining agreements, and even protects the right of non-unionized employees to engage in collective action.  The NLRA does not, however, have anything to do with the labor rights of public employees.  The extent of state and local employees' labor rights is entirely a matter of state and local law, and therefore within the control of state and local elected officials.  In Wisconsin, the State Employment Labor Relations Act (SELRA) and the Municipal Employment Relations Act (MERA) govern the rights of public employees.  SELRA and MERA are the state and local corollaries of the NLRA.  The Budget Repair Bill signed into law by Governor Walker amends SELRA and MERA, only affects the rights of Wisconsin's public employees, and therefore is not preempted by federal labor laws.

Can't Someone Sue Walker for Unfair Labor Practices?

Yes.  Someone can.  And someone has.  To be exact, the Wisconsin State Employees Union, AFT-Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Education Association Counsel, the State Engineers Association, and the Wisconsin Law Enforcement Association have each filed their own unfair labor practice charges against Governor Scott Walker.  While I have not seen copies of all of the complaints, I understand that the Wisconsin State Employees Union's complaint alleges that the governor has refused to bargain a new contract. 

Under the Municipal Employment Relations Act (MERA) and the State Employment Relations Act (SELRA), the state and other municipal employers have a duty to engage in good faith bargaining with employees' collective bargaining representative once a labor contract nears the end of its term.  If an employer refuses to bargain, the collective bargaining representative can file a complaint with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission (WERC) which has the authority to hold a hearing, reach a decision, and order bargaining and other remedies.  If a party is unhappy with a decision of the WERC, that party can appeal the WERC's decision to the state courts.

MERA and SELRA are the laws that Governor Walker seeks to radically amend with the Budget Repair Bill, but the Budget Repair Bill is not yet law.  SELRA governs the collective bargaining relationship between the state and its employees for the time being.  As one of the WERC complaints states: "Governor Walker has the power to propose draconian legislation grounded in his anti-union animus.  However such proposals do not change the law or repeal the obligations of the Respondents under Wisconsin law."  http://www.wisea.org/Files/Official/SEAprohPracticeCompl110308.pdf