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Public
Employee Collective Bargaining Now Law of the Land in New Mexico
Governor
Bill Richardson on Friday, March 7, signed collective bargaining legislation into law.
The new statute restores public employees’ rights to negotiate agreements with
management.
Public employees lost those rights in 1999 when Gary Johnson
vetoed legislation that would have extended collective bargaining rights.
State and local governments, including school districts, will now be required to bargain with
labor organizations representing public employees.
Governor Richardson Signs
Collective Bargaining Legislation
Governor
Richardson released the following statement before signing the
legislation:
Today
is a great victory for our public workers across New Mexico.
Many of you were denied your rights under the previous
administration.
I have long believed that all workers have earned the right to
negotiate.
During my entire 15 years in Congress, I was always a proud
supporter of collective bargaining.
Under my administration, and from now on in New Mexico, you have
a seat at the table.
As we saw during 9-11, public employees courageously put their
lives on the line for all of us.
Yet, even in New Mexico we took our public employees for granted.
Those days are gone.
Every day there are hundreds of State Police officers,
corrections officers and others who provide public safety and security
for all of us.
We have thousands of educators who have tremendous
responsibilities to teach our children.
And there are thousands of public employees who keep our state
and local governments running and working for the people of New Mexico
every day.
All of those valued employees deserve a fair shake when it comes
to negotiating salaries, workplace safety and other aspects of the jobs
they perform.
NEA Team Joins Governor Richardson
Left to right: NEA-NM President Eduardo Holguin, NEA-NM Political
Consultant Annadelle Sanchez, NEA-NM Government Relations Director Charles
Bowyer, NEA-NM Executive Director Kay Brilliant, Governor Richardson, NEA
Executive Committee Member Mike Billirakis, NEA Government Relations
Consultant Jack Polidori, and NEA Collective Bargaining Director
Lynn Ohman
The statute
signed by Governor Richardson , which took effect on July 1, 2003 contains language that:
(1) forces local board policies adopted since 1991 to comply with most
provisions of the new law;
(2)adopts a scope of bargaining that forces school management to talk
about professional and instructional concerns; and
(3)a impasse resolution procedure that ends in final binding arbitration
if the parties cannot reach agreement on a successor contract.
Many
supporters of collective bargaining rights worked to make this happen, including the sponsors
House
Speaker Ben Lujan and Senate
President Pro-temp Richard Romero. Also several committee chairs
in both Houses were important in making sure these bills moved expeditiously
though the process. These chairs are Representative Sheryl Williams
Stapleton, House Labor; Representative Max
Coll, House Appropriations; Senator
Dede Feldman, Senate Public Affairs; and Senator
Michael Sanchez, Senate Judiciary. These chairs deserve special
thanks for their support of collective bargaining rights for school
employees.
Link
to codified Bargaining Statute
Download
.pdf version of Collective Bargaining Law
Link
to roll call votes on Collective Bargaining
Link
to NEA-NM Press Release
Link
to NEA Press Release |
