Labor union debate heats up in Oklahoma Legislature (harmful to the rights of public employees)

[Omaha Steve]

http://newsok.com/labor-union-debate-heats-up-in-oklahoma-legislature/article/3554907

A rally is planned for Monday at the state Capitol, where lawmakers are considering proposals that unions claim will be harmful to the rights of public employees.

BY JOHN ESTUS [e-mail] Oklahoman Comment on this article 0
Published: April 3, 2011

Bickering between unions and politicians is heating up at the state Capitol, where union workers plan to rally Monday.

The rally is part of a national labor union initiative to honor Martin Luther King Jr., who was slain 43 years ago Monday while in Memphis, Tenn., to support unionized city sanitation workers who were on strike.

In Oklahoma, the gathering will also serve as a union rallying cry against Republican-sponsored legislation that would repeal collective bargaining rights for city employees and change how police and firefighter union labor disputes are handled, among other things.

Unions have blasted the proposals as attempts to weaken the rights of public employees.

So far, Oklahoma's labor debate has been modest compared to the heated protests in states such as Wisconsin and Ohio, where organized labor is much stronger than in Oklahoma.

Still, as labor proposals have progressed through the Oklahoma Legislature, labor supporters have started fearing what would happen if those bills become law.

FULL story at link.

[Tripod]

1. Thanks, Keep up the great post, Omaha Steve. :)