In the debate about reform of the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations, the unelected state panel that resolves public sector labor disputes, some are claiming that the effort to protect local negotiating authority is an assault on the right of public sector unions to [...]]]> By CHIP MAXWELL JournalStar.com | Posted: Tuesday, May 10, 2011 11:57 pm

In the debate about reform of the Nebraska Commission of Industrial Relations, the unelected state panel that resolves public sector labor disputes, some are claiming that the effort to protect local negotiating authority is an assault on the right of public sector unions to challenge management through collective bargaining.

Moderating CIR authority isn’t about attacking unions. It’s about restoring the rightful authority of the people. In a recent conversation about the CIR, a Nebraska state senator said to me, “I’m a union person.” That’s fine, but a politician’s primary loyalty should be to taxpaying constituents.

A 1937 letter by President Franklin D. Roosevelt has received attention in the national debate about collective bargaining in the public sector. The letter said government employees should not strike, but that was not all. After acknowledging that it was “natural and logical” for government employees to organize and advocate for fair pay and working conditions, just as private sector employees do, FDR warned that “meticulous attention should be paid to the special relationships” that make the public sector different from the private sector:

“All Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management. The very nature and purposes of Government makes it impossible for administrative officials to represent fully or to bind the employer in mutual discussions with Government employee organizations. The employer is the whole people, who speak by means of laws enacted by their representatives in Congress. Accordingly, administrative officials and employees alike are governed.”

The people are the boss in the public sector, but they don’t negotiate directly with their employees. They negotiate through bureaucrats who have no personal financial stake in the negotiation, and through politicians who not only have no personal financial stake, but may have political reasons — union donations, volunteers and voting blocs — to accommodate employees rather than drive hard bargains.
FDR’s concern has become reality. Cities and states throughout the nation face staggering public sector costs because unions have found politicians willing to help them use collective bargaining to exploit the opportunities presented in public sector negotiations.

The CIR makes the situation worse by making it harder for citizens to hold their local elected officials accountable for fiscal policy.

The taxpayer-crushing pensions of the Omaha police and fire unions are not the fault of the CIR. Moderating the authority of the CIR will not defuse the fiscal bomb created by an accommodating mayor and city council in 2003 and 2004. This has led some in the State Capitol to conclude that authority over local spending must be placed in the CIR to keep irresponsible locals from doing more fiscal damage to their communities.
The better course is to strengthen, not weaken, the connection between local elected officials and their constituents. Then it’s up to citizens if they elect candidates without demanding fiscal specifics from them, don’t pay attention when contracts are being publicly reviewed or re-elect politicians who are too generous with tax dollars then they deserve and the fiscal chaos that results. Self-government has risks. For better or worse, the action should play out at the local level.

The only thing resembling private sector employer pressure that the people can exercise in public sector negotiations is the power to vote for or against the politicians who spend their tax dollars. But that pressure is based on the premise that local elected officials decide what to spend.

If the CIR has final authority over local spending on public sector employees, then the fiscal connection between the people and their local elected officials is broken. The people, the true employers, are deprived of their leverage in the process because the final decision has been removed from the local level, where taxpayers can pressure elected officials to drive hard bargains.

The Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector has no problem with giving local elected officials the option of submitting disputes to the CIR for resolution. But the opportunity should be there for local elected officials — the ones directly accountable to the people — to have the final say on compensation for their constituents’ public sector employees.

Chip Maxwell is executive director of the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector.

The writer, an Omaha businessman, is a spokesman for the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector.

The Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector has worked tirelessly to study the City of Omaha’s past labor contracts in an effort to determine whether taxpayers have [...]]]> Midlands Voices: Excess, inefficiency fill fire contract
Published Wednesday March 9, 2011
By David Nabity

The writer, an Omaha businessman, is a spokesman for the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector.

The Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector has worked tirelessly to study the City of Omaha’s past labor contracts in an effort to determine whether taxpayers have been served well.

At every juncture, we have concluded that past politicians have harmed the city by assembling negotiation teams with ties to the very labor unions they were negotiating against and by adopting contracts no other city in America would adopt. Our aim has been to find a way to protect Omaha citizens from the excessive costs, unfair terms and inefficiencies of these contracts.

In August 2009, our organization produced its first report on the firefighters union contract, calling for the mayor and City Council to renegotiate with independent negotiators and revise the contract. We recommended removing mandates requiring the department to put specific equipment into operation and employ a specific number of firefighters (657), whether they are needed or not.

Click here to read full article.

By Maggie O’Brien WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

A critic of the Omaha Fire Department says that his comments on a local radio show are protected speech and that he plans to fight a defamation lawsuit filed against him and his organization. Advertising

David Nabity, president of the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector, [...]]]> Published Tuesday November 9, 2010
Nabity to fight lawsuit

By Maggie O’Brien
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

A critic of the Omaha Fire Department says that his comments on a local radio show are protected speech and that he plans to fight a defamation lawsuit filed against him and his organization.
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David Nabity, president of the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector, said Tuesday that a lawsuit filed last week by fire union president Steve LeClair was “intended to intimidate me and the people who support me and to silence those with the courage to come forward.”

Read more here: http://www.omaha.com/article/20101109/NEWS01/101109702/0

After months of accusing Omaha Fire Department officials of gross mismanagement costing taxpayers millions of dollars, the head of the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector insists (see interview with Nebraska Watchdog below) he will “get to the proof.” At [...]]]> Video Exclusive: Nabity Says Proof Coming, Send Cash
By Joe Jordan on November 9, 2010

After months of accusing Omaha Fire Department officials of gross mismanagement costing taxpayers millions of dollars, the head of the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector insists (see interview with Nebraska Watchdog below) he will “get to the proof.” At the same time Dave Nabity is asking for donations to pay his upcoming legal bills.

Nabity announced Tuesday he has hired a team of attorneys to fight a lawsuit filed against Nabity by Steve LeClair, the head of the Omaha Fire Union. Among Nabity’s lawyers is former Douglas County Attorney Stu Dornan.

Read more here: http://nebraska.watchdog.org/10073/nabity-promises-proof-seeks-cash-for-legal-fight/

David Nabity Seeks Public’s Help In Defending Himself

POSTED: 3:45 pm CST November 9, 2010 UPDATED: 6:12 pm CST November 9, 2010

OMAHA, Neb. — An Omaha watchdog said a lawsuit lodged against him by the president of the Omaha fire union is a personal attack designed to shut him up.

David Nabity, [...]]]> Omaha ‘Watchdog’ Won’t Be Muzzled By Lawsuit

David Nabity Seeks Public’s Help In Defending Himself

POSTED: 3:45 pm CST November 9, 2010
UPDATED: 6:12 pm CST November 9, 2010

OMAHA, Neb. — An Omaha watchdog said a lawsuit lodged against him by the president of the Omaha fire union is a personal attack designed to shut him up.

David Nabity, who represents the group Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector, is seeking help from the public to fight the defamation lawsuit brought by Steve LeClair.

Read more here: http://www.ketv.com/news/25688040/detail.html

Nabity, spokesman for the group, told the council Tuesday the resolution doesn’t go far enough. The lack of reliable records could not be accidental, he said, and the council should ask for the immediate resignations of the fire chief and his assistants.

“It’s [...]]]> Council wants Fire Dept. action
Published Wednesday November 3, 2010
By Matt Wynn
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Nabity, spokesman for the group, told the council Tuesday the resolution doesn’t go far enough. The lack of reliable records could not be accidental, he said, and the council should ask for the immediate resignations of the fire chief and his assistants.

“It’s a $70 million-a-year fund. It’s not a lemonade stand. If you can’t audit that agency, it has to be deliberate,” Nabity said. “Those of us in the private sector would be prosecuted for those kinds of things. But in government, we say ‘Oh, OK.’ ”

Read full article here: http://www.omaha.com/article/20101103/NEWS01/711039913

Click here to read full article: http://www.kmtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13431721

Click here to watch video: http://www.action3news.com/global/Category.asp?c=170799&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=5254823&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

Nabity alleges LeClair misused taxpayer’s money by only clocking out six hours in a year period.

“What he’s saying is ‘I was never sick, I never went on vacation, I never went to an annual conference…I was at the job non stop, 24-7 with the exception of six hours.’ [...]]]> Posted: Nov 02, 2010 9:45 PM CST

Nabity alleges LeClair misused taxpayer’s money by only clocking out six hours in a year period.

“What he’s saying is ‘I was never sick, I never went on vacation, I never went to an annual conference…I was at the job non stop, 24-7 with the exception of six hours.’ That’s theft by deception,” said David Nabity on KFAB radio.

Click here to read full article: http://www.kmtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13434346

The Omaha Fire Union is firing back.

Fire Union President Steve LeClair is suing Dave Nabity, the head of the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector, for defamation of character.

According to Union attorney John Corrigan the lawsuit stems from comments made by Nabity during [...]]]> Nabity Sued by Fire Union Chief
By Joe Jordan on November 2, 2010

The Omaha Fire Union is firing back.

Fire Union President Steve LeClair is suing Dave Nabity, the head of the Omaha Alliance for the Private Sector, for defamation of character.

According to Union attorney John Corrigan the lawsuit stems from comments made by Nabity during a recent interview on KFAB radio. Corrigan says in that interview Nabity said LeClair was guilty of a crime, theft by deception.

Click here to read article: http://nebraska.watchdog.org/9886/nabity-sued-by-fire-union-chief/