State workers file labor complaint

Tom Fahey reports in the Union Leader that the State Employees Association has followed through on its threat to file an unfair labor practices complaint against the Governor and his department heads.

The SEA contends in its latest complaint that state department heads wrongly gave workers an opinion piece that the state negotiating team wrote describing the contract.

SEA members have ballots now, and must submit their vote on the contract by Friday, Oct. 9. Union leaders urged roughly 6,400 voting members to reject the deal, saying there are no guarantees against future layoffs even if the contract is ratified.

Gov. John Lynch sent the negotiating team's piece in an e-mail to department heads. He said it could be used to answer workers' questions.

As I wrote yesterday, monopoly of information is always a bad idea. State workers should be allowed to decide on the contract without pressure from their employers. They should also be allowed to decide without being put in a vaccum imposed by their union.