Monopoly of Information is always a bad idea

The State Employees Association is so upset that the Governor wants to share his side of ongoing contract dispute that they are filing an unfair labor practices complaint, according to the AP's Holly Ramer, published online by the Union Leader.

At issue is an e-mail Lynch sent to department heads framing the tentative contract between the State Employees' Association and the state as a choice between furloughs if the agreement is ratified and layoffs if it's rejected. Lynch encouraged department heads to share it with employees, prompting union complaints that he was trying to influence the vote. Lynch's spokesman said the governor was just trying to answer questions from agency heads.

The union apparantly wants to be the sole source of information to state employees prior to the October 12th vote that will determine whether most state employees are forced to take unpaid furloughs, or 750 state employees will lose their jobs. The union is free to counter the Governor's arguments and urge the defeat of the contract, but it shouldn't try to keep employees from even hearing both sides of the issue.