Will Iowans get "Fair Share"?

Saturday's Eggs and Issues legislative forum at Spencer City Hall had a common theme threaded through it: unions.

Sen. Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg; Sen. David Johnson, R-Ocheyedan; and Rep. Mike May, R-Spirit Lake discussed everything from same-sex marital unions to "Fair Share" Legislation, which would require all employees to pay fees to unions for negotiated benefits. Reps. Marcie Frevert, D-Emmetsburg, and Royd Chambers, R-Sheldon, were unable to attend the event that drew a standing-room-only crowd.

Don Brower, of Sanborn, referenced Gov. Chet Culver's "State of the Union Address."

"He talked about what a great job he was doing and the state being in great shape," Brower said. "Why do the Democrats say there is so much work to do on the budget that we cannot listen to what people are telling the Democrats what we need to talk about? ... I think you men need to listen to the people."

Kibbie responded by calling the budget "the big issue" and said he does not believe an amendment banning same-sex marriage is going to happen. He went on to say he has three daughters who see societal problems as social workers.

"We've got kids having kids, we've got families that don't know how to parent, we've got single mothers with two or three kids and we don't know where the fathers are," Kibbie said. "If we spent as much effort in this state to correct those problems, this state would be much better off than worrying about same-sex people getting married.

"I don't know that they're bothering anybody. I don't think they're going to have any illegitimate kids," Kibbie continued to applause of approval.

"You have to remember, Mr. Kibbie, that marriage is an institution that this country was founded on, and when we destroy marriage, we're going to have more of what you just talked about," Brower fired back, soliciting a louder chorus of "amen" and applause.

Kris Thiessen, of Everly, who had asked about Iowa's "Right to Work" status at the Jan. 30 Eggs and Issues, voiced concerns over "Fair Share" legislation.

"It appears to me that the unions in this bill would double their current intake from currently $5 million to $10 million," Thiessen said. "People who are non-union members don't want to pay those unions because they don't like the way unions spend their union money... I think it takes away Iowa citizen's freedom to force them to pay money to any organization that they disagree with."

Kibbie disputed that Iowa's "Right to Work" law was being repealed. He said unions are required by federal law to bargain for all employees, so non-members should have to pay a fee for negotiated benefits.

"But, those people don't want to be bargained for," Thiessen countered.

"I'm sure if they're getting something without paying for it; everyone wants a free lunch," Kibbie responded.

May chimed in that "unions ask for the right to bargain for everyone," putting non-union members in an interesting situation.

"It's sort of like going into a restaurant and ordering a hamburger ... (but) they bring you a steak and now you have to pay for the steak," May analogized. "It's disingenuous for unions to say, 'We are doing this wonderful thing for our members. They didn't ask for it, they didn't want it, but now they have to pay for it.' That's fair share? What's fair about it?"

Johnson clarified the current bill is only for public employees in the executive branch.

"Teachers are opposed to this bill because they're not included. What does that tell you?" he asked. "(This bill) is the proverbial camel's nose under the tent. We give way on this one and look out; it will change ... there's no reason for it to change.

"I'm not anti-union. I just happen to believe that a union is between one man and one woman," Johnson added, inciting laughter and applause.

Preston DeBoer, an Ocheyedan resident and representative for American Federation of Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, joined the conversation later, saying he spends more than half his time representing non-union individuals.

"It's a significant investment we make in our time, efforts and transportation and the people that are paying for that are the people paying dues," he stated.

"You asked for the right to do that... it gives you way more bargaining power," May replied. "You've decided you're going to bargain for them whether they want it or not... They should not have to pay a fee to a union, particularly if that union uses that money to elect folks they don't agree with."

DeBoer disputed the argument that fees would be used for political ends.

"If those folks don't want to be represented, then don't call me for representation when something happens to you in the workplace," he added.

DeBoer argued that having non-union members represent themselves would raise bargaining expenses for employers.

When asked by Johnson about a reasonable fee, DeBoer said fees should be based on how much time is spent dealing with non-union members versus dues-payers.

Jane Campbell shared a newspaper headline with the forum.

"Can they modify politicians' genetics to work together?" the headline read.

Campbell then asked the legislators what bipartisan bills they had worked on and how they planned to work with other parties to get objectives accomplished this year.

Kibbie described the majority of bills as bipartisan.

"The ones that make the headlines, the ones that people are upset about, a lot of them are party-line votes," he said.

May added, "Bipartisanship is really an interesting concept... We think it's bipartisan when we go behind the doors, make the deal and invite the other party to be a part of approving what we did... If we want bipartisan approach to issues, then we start from day one together and we work on these issues together."

The legislators will have a chance to get together and talk about local issues again at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 27, at the Spencer City Hall.