Bill Gluba, mayor of Davenport, supports Culver veto

[Hardrada]

of Bargaining Bill. Way to go, Democratic leaders!! Labor is so thrilled.
Not!

[haroldgiowa]

1. Did he say why?

If the leadership is going to go away from the needs of organized labor they should say so now. Organized labor has been the workhorse for the party since organized labor has been allowed. The reason I am a democrat is its commitment to organized labor and to those least fortunate. It will take time, but organized labor can explore other alternatives to do with their time and money. This is your wake up call.

[Debi]

2. Article in Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier

http://www.wcfcourier.com/articles/2008/05/16/news/politics/10345356.txt

<snip>

Culver was forced to choose between the interests of unions and the interests of public employers. Some of those public employers also are Democrats, such as Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba.

"The governor showed a lot of courage, leadership and statesmanship in vetoing that bill," Gluba said.

"He showed he's the governor, and AFSCME (the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees) is not running the state of Iowa, contrary to what they think, nor do the teachers," he said.

Gluba thinks union leaders made a mistake by trying to ram the bill through the Legislature, rather than working on a compromise that local governments could live with.

Gluba was one of many local government officials who warned Culver the bill may lead to big increases in labor costs, which may lead to higher property taxes. Culver cited that concern as one of the reasons for the veto.

Now with the veto, Gluba hopes labor leaders and Democratic elected officials can overcome hard feelings and work together on other issues. For instance, he said he hopes the Legislature will one day pass fair share, a proposal that would let unions negotiate for the right to charge a fee for representing non-union workers.

The bottom line, Gluba said, is that organized labor and the Democratic Party need each other and agree on nearly every issue.

<snip>

[Bluzmann57]

3. Davenport Public Works has one strong Union

They are solid and Gluba likely doesn't want them to get any more solidarity than is neccessary. I know a guy who made around $1500.00/week (after taxes) this past winter due to all the ot they put in. I doubt if Gluba and the rest of the city administration are real fond of stuff like that, Dems or not.

[Hardrada]

4. This issue is going to come back.

For sure.

[iowasocialist]

5. Labor

All the controversy over the collective bargaining and Fair Share bills demonstrate that many Iowans just don't "get it" when it comes to the importance of organized labor to democracy.

Too many "liberals" are also ignorant about unions. I spoke yesterday with a paid organizer for the IDP who barely knew what AFSCME was, and what its function was.

[Hardrada]

6. Some Iowans even though nominally public union members

do not apparently understand they can do more than just mutter or be sullenly fatalistic. And many, many allow themselves to be distracted by sports, religion, family and television to the point where they claim they have no time for politics or organizing.

[DU9598]

7. Well said

So, the Governor wants a public discussion over this. I say Great! Let's discuss it at length. How about public forums all over the state and on IPTV over the next year. I would guess that in this economic climate we would end up with a much stronger bill than what was just vetoed.

[Hardrada]

8. I'm game. When do we start?

But what's the point if he already killed it off?