Click her to print: More "Right to Work" for Idaho
Written by Wayne Meuleman
(as published in the Idaho Construction Review)
In 1985, the Idaho Legislature adopted the Right to Work Act stating “in order to maximize individual freedom of choice in the pursuit of employment and to encourage an employment climate conducive to economic growth, that the right to work shall not be subject to undue restraint or coercion”. In general, the Right to Work Act provides that no one may be required, as a condition of employment, to be or become a member of a union, or to refrain from or withdraw from membership in a union, or to pay dues or fees to unions, or to be referred or recommended for employment by a union. The Act is intended to protect the right of individuals to determine whether or not to join a union and to prohibit agreements between employers and unions to require union membership as a condition of any employment. It also prohibits employers from preventing its employees from being union members if they choose.
The 1985 enactment of the Act was very controversial and followed several unsuccessful attempts to enact a right-to-work law over the preceding years. Until this year, the Act has been amended only once in a 1995 to make its provisions applicable to public employment by State and local government agencies, as well as private employment. The 2011 legislature has now added two new section to the Idaho Right to Work law which will take effect on July 1, 2011.
One of the new sections, referred to as the Fairness in Contracting Act, prohibits (a) contractors and subcontractors from receiving any wage subsidy, bid supplement or rebate on behalf of its employees or from providing subsidies, bid supplements or rebates to its employees; (b) labor organizations from paying a wage subsidy or rebate to its members in order to subsidize a contractor or subcontractor; and (c) the use any fund derived from wages collected by or on behalf of labor organizations to subsidize contractors or subcontractors in Idaho. A violation of the new Fairness in Contracting Act carries substantial penalties; up to $10,000.00 for the first offense, $25,000.00 for the second, and $100,000.00 per violation for each additional offense. Any interested party, including any bidder, contractor, subcontractor, or taxpayer has a standing to challenge any violation of the new act and entitles the challenger to an award of attorney’s fees and costs in the event the challenge succeeds.
The second amendment, to be known as the “Open Access to Work Act”, applies to public works construction in Idaho. This amendment prohibits state agencies and cities, counties, school districts, and other political subdivisions from requiring contractors to pay a specified wage scale or provide specified employee benefits to its employees for work on public works projects in Idaho, except as may be required by federal wage laws applicable to public works projects supported by federal funds. It also prohibits Idaho government agencies from requiring contractors, subcontractors and suppliers to sign collective bargaining or other union agreements in order to bid on or perform contracts for construction of public works projects.
These were adopted, at least in part, as a reaction to union picketing and demonstrations around Boise and the surrounding area over the last few years. The new prohibition against use of wage subsidies, bid supplements and rebates will impact some private and public projects because trade unions have occasionally subsidized union contractors in order to help union contractors to be more competitive in bidding public works projects. However, the prohibition against state and local agencies specifying wage rates and benefit requirements for public works project should not be significant because agencies have rarely, if ever, specified wage rates or benefits for public projects since the repeal in 1985 of Idaho’s “Davis Bacon Act” which mandated predetermined wages rates and benefits for public construction projects statewide. Similarly, the prohibition against agencies requiring collective bargaining or other union agreements on public construction projects will probably have little effect because government agencies in Idaho have not required union agreements as a condition for constructing public works projects.
Right to Work continues to be a popular political issue in Idaho.