While you may not be aware of it, in Arizona, there is a full court press to eliminate public employee unions through targeted legislation. These bills, part of a long list, systematically disable all of the mechanisms that allow public sector unions and associations to exist. This is a model of legislative attacks upon organized public labor and part of a larger national agenda, which began last year in Wisconsin and Ohio, and is quickly gaining momentum and popularity in certain political circles.
PLEA lobbyist Levi Bolton, APA Director Brian Livingston, and the lobbyist staff of Williams and Associates are heavily engaged in discussions on all of these dangerous bills in an attempt to prevent them from being passed into law, or when possible, negate their effect upon you. Among those bills is the anti-union bill purported to have been drafted by the Goldwater Institute in concert with a frightening piece of legislation called the Liberty Charter bill (SB 1064).
Litigation is always an option, however, it must be carefully considered before entering the process because sometimes you can win the battle, yet decisively lose the war. This is no longer just a battle of principle and the issue has never been one of fixing something that is broken. Organized public unions are the third rail of politics according to some pundits and there are those who resent the so-called effect they have upon the political landscape.
PLEA is aggressively meeting with those lawmakers who still have your interest at heart and are troubled with the recent dialogue that seems to brand the public employee as greedy and laden with hefty benefits and entitlements not available to the public. Nothing could be further from the truth, because you work hard and deserve every penny of the salaries and benefits you receive, which were obtained through collective bargaining agreements between the City and PLEA.