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votes to restrict unions</H1>
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would curb bargaining on health care</H2>
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title="Robert J. Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, said the union would fight the legislation “to the bitter end.”"
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<TD
style="WIDTH: auto; FONT-FAMILY: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; FONT-SIZE: 12px">Robert
J. Haynes, president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, said the union would
fight the legislation “to the bitter end.” (M. McDonald for The Boston
Globe)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV>
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<P>House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly last night to strip police officers,
teachers, and other municipal employees of most of their rights to bargain over
health care, saying the change would save millions of dollars for financially
strapped cities and towns.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>The 111-to-42 vote followed tougher measures to broadly eliminate collective
bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states. But
unlike those efforts, the push in Massachusetts was led by Democrats who have
traditionally stood with labor to oppose any reduction in workers’
rights.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>Unions fought hard to stop the bill, launching a radio ad that assailed the
plan and warning legislators that if they voted for the measure, they could lose
their union backing in the next election. After the vote, labor leaders accused
House Speaker Robert A. DeLeo and other Democrats of turning their backs on
public employees.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>“It’s pretty stunning,’’ said<STRONG> </STRONG>Robert J. Haynes,
president of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. “These are the same Democrats that all
these labor unions elected. The same Democrats who we contributed to in their
campaigns. The same Democrats who tell us over and over again that they’re with
us, that they believe in collective bargaining, that they believe in unions. . .
. It’s a done deal for our relationship with the people inside that
chamber.’’</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>“We are going to fight this thing to the bitter end,’’ he added.
“Massachusetts is not the place that takes collective bargaining away from
public employees.’’</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>The battle now turns to the Senate, where President Therese Murray has
indicated that she is reluctant to strip workers of their right to bargain over
their health care plans.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>DeLeo said the House measure would save $100 million for cities and towns in
the upcoming budget year, helping them avoid layoffs and reductions in services.
He called his plan one of the most significant reforms the state can adopt to
help control escalating health care costs.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>“By spending less on the health care costs of municipal employees, our cities
and towns will be able to retain jobs and allot more funding to necessary
services like education and public safety,’’ he said in a statement.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>Last night, as union leaders lobbied against the plan, DeLeo offered two
concessions intended to shore up support from wavering legislators.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>The first concession gives public employees 30 days to discuss changes to
their health plans with local officials, instead of allowing the officials to
act without any input from union members. But local officials would still, at
the end of that period, be able to impose their changes unilaterally.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>The second concession gives union members 20 percent of the savings from any
health care changes for one year, if the unions object to changes imposed by
local officials. The original bill gave the unions 10 percent of the savings for
one year.</P></DIV></DIV>
<DIV id=page2>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>The modifications bring the House bill closer to a plan introduced by
Governor Deval Patrick in January. The governor, like Murray, has said he wants
workers to have some say in altering their health plans, but does not want
unions to have the power to block changes.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>But union leaders said that even with the last-minute concessions, the bill
was an assault on workers’ rights, unthinkable in a state that has long been a
bastion of union support. Some Democrats accused DeLeo of following the lead of
Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin and other Republicans who have targeted
public employee benefits. “In the bigger world out there, this fits into a very
bad movement to disempower labor unions,’’ said Representative Denise Provost, a
Somerville Democrat who opposed the bill.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>Under the legislation, mayors and other local officials would be given
unfettered authority to set copayments and deductibles for their employees,
after the 30-day discussion period with unions. Only the share of premiums paid
by employees would remain on the health care bargaining table.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>Geoff Beckwith, executive director of the Massachusetts Municipal
Association, said that, even if the bill becomes law, municipal workers would
still have more bargaining power over their health care plans than state
employees. “It’s a fair, balanced, strong, effective and meaningful reform,’’ he
said.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>Unions lobbied to derail the speaker’s plan in favor of a labor-backed
proposal that would preserve collective bargaining, and would let an arbitrator
decide changes to employee health plans if local officials and unions deadlock
after 45 days. Labor leaders initially persuaded 50 lawmakers, including six
members of DeLeo’s leadership team, to back their plan last week. But DeLeo
peeled off some of the labor support in the final vote.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>Representative Martin J. Walsh, a Dorchester Democrat who is
secretary-treasurer of the Boston Building Trades Council, led the fight against
the speaker’s plan. In a speech that was more wistful than angry, he recalled
growing up in a union household that had health care benefits generous enough to
help him overcome cancer in 1974. He said collective bargaining rights helped
build the middle class.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>“Municipal workers aren’t the bad guys here,’’ he said. “They’re not the ones
who caused the financial crisis. Banks and investment companies got a slap on
the wrist for their wrongdoing, but public employees are losing their
benefits.’’</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P>The timing of the vote was significant. Union leaders plan today to unleash a
major lobbying blitz with police officers, firefighters, and other workers
flooding the State House. Taking the vote last night at 11:30 allowed lawmakers
to avoid a potentially tense confrontation with those workers, and vote when the
marble halls of the House were all but empty.</P></DIV>
<DIV class=articlePluckHidden>
<P><EM style="FONT-STYLE: italic">Michael Levenson can be reached at <A
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