Steamship Authority Public Hearing Postponed

By Walter Brooks

The Steamship Authority is concerned that its management prerogatives may be curtailed if the state legislature passes a new bill designed to force it into arbitration. And a hearing on that bill takes place in Boston in four days at 10:30 am on Thursday, June 7.

"There is no need for this legislation. The Steamship Authority has successfully reached agreement with all its other unions (save one)." 
   - Wayne Lamson

Steamship Authority General Manager Wayne Lamson says that "private industry is never required to submit unresolved contract negotiations to binding arbitration and almost no public entities are required to submit unresolved contract negotiations to binding arbitration either."

Mr. Lamson faces tough odds; the heavily, lop-sided Democrat controlled State Legislature is notorious at gift-giving to their union backers.  It usually takes a deep recession to convince them otherwise, but for the past fifteen Republican Governors have stemmed the Democrat excesses - somewhat.

Union-friendly Legislature is hard to stop

Massachusetts is a classic example of a strong-governor state. The present Democrat Governor is a rarity in recent years. The electorate seems to attempt to control the Legislature's excesses by backing GOP Governors.

In 1964 Republican Governor John Volpe led a successful move for a constitutional amendment to lengthen the governor's term from two years to four, and since 1991 the state's governors have all been Republican; Bill Weld, Paul Cellucci, Jane Swift, and Mitt Romney.

Authority G.M. Lamson also points out that a similar bill was filed in the last session of the State Legislature and was reported out favorably by the Joint Committee on Public Service last year without any input whatsoever from the communities

In a statement Sunday afternoon, Wayne Lamson, SSA General Manager stated;

"There is no need for this legislation.  The Steamship Authority has successfully reached agreement with all its other unions (except MEBA), including Teamsters Union Local 59 (Maintenance Dept. Employees, Agency and Terminal Employees, Security Guards, Parking Lot Attendants and Shuttle Bus Drivers), Service Employees International Union Local 888 (Reservation Clerks) and the Licensed Officers and Maritime Workers? Union, affiliated with UAW Local 1596 (Vessel Captains and Pilot/Mates)."

Lamson claims the language of the new bill is lifted verbatim from the enabling act for the MBTA which led to such high labor costs that system shut down in 1978.

Recent news stories about the Steamship Authority in this online newspaper and many others can be seen and read here.

Below is the full press release from the SSA:
Public Hearing Scheduled

The Joint Committee on Public Service has scheduled a public hearing for Senate Bill No. 1627 on Thursday, June 7th at 10:30am in Room B-2 at the State House in Boston.  Senate Bill No. 1627, an act ?relative to binding arbitration?, would amend the Steamship Authority?s enabling act (Chapter 701 of the Acts of 1960) to authorize a single arbitrator to determine the wages, benefits and other terms and conditions of employment for the Steamship Authority?s unionized employees in the event the Steamship Authority is unable to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the union representing those employees within five months after the expiration of the prior agreement between the Steamship Authority and that union.  Private industry is never required to submit unresolved contract negotiations to binding arbitration and almost no public entities are required to submit unresolved contract negotiations to binding arbitration either.  Even when the Legislature has provided for binding arbitration for fire and police employees, those awards are still subject to the approval by each municipality?s legislative body for funding.  The determination of the Steamship Authority?s future labor costs will be left to the judgment of one person who is accountable to no one.

Senate Bill No. 1627 is lifted wholesale from the enabling act of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), which was required to submit its contract negotiations to arbitration in 1978 when its labor costs resulted in the MBTA being shut down after exhausting its funding that year.  In exchange, the MBTA was given management rights that the MBTA otherwise would have negotiated with its unions, and the MBTA was protected by statute from bargaining in any manner that would dilute those rights.  The MBTA?s enabling act prohibits any and all bargaining between the MBTA and its unions ?with respect to matters of inherent management right?.

The MBTA?s inherent management rights include:

1. The right to direct, appoint and employ individuals and to determine the standards therefore.
2. The right to discharge or terminate employees unless the discharge is unlawful discrimination or otherwise in violation of law.
3. The right to direct, supervise, control and evaluate the MBTA?s various departments, to classify the MBTA?s various positions, and to ascribe their duties and standards of productivity.
4. The right to develop and determine levels of staffing and training, except to the extent that such levels have an impact on safety, not workload, of MBTA employees.
5. The right to determine whether goods and services should be made, leased, contracted for, or purchased on either a temporary or permanent basis.
6. The right to assign and apportion overtime.
7. The right to hire part-time employees.

Senate Bill No. 1627 fails to protect the Steamship Authority?s management rights, thus giving the Steamship Authority the worst of both worlds under this legislation.  The Islands will lose financial and operational control of their boat line. 

There is no need for this legislation.  The Steamship Authority has successfully reached agreement with all its other unions (except MEBA), including Teamsters Union Local 59 (Maintenance Dept. Employees, Agency and Terminal Employees, Security Guards, Parking Lot Attendants and Shuttle Bus Drivers), Service Employees International Union Local 888 (Reservation Clerks) and the Licensed Officers and Maritime Workers? Union, affiliated with UAW Local 1596 (Vessel Captains and Pilot/Mates).

A similar bill (Senate Bill No. 1580/Senate Bill No. 2459) was filed in the last session.  The bill was reported out favorably by the Joint Committee on Public Service last year without any input whatsoever from the communities who depend so heavily upon the Steamship Authority as their very lifeline.