EDITORIAL: Union bill compromises privacy

The Nevada State Legislature Building at the state Capitol complex on Sunday, Jan. 17, 2021, in Carson City, Nev. (Benjamin Hager/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @benjaminhphoto
Lawmakers in Carson City have actually thinned the docket of late, as deadlines have led to the demise of various legislative propositions. But lots of expenses stay, a number of which should have a gentle execution.

One such example is Assembly Bill 172, a downright awful proposition that would enable federal government unions to compromise the privacy of nonmembers. Democrats passed it out of the lower chamber along a 28-14 celebration line vote, and the measure is now in a Senate committee.

Current Nevada law requires public-sector unions to file annual reports with a state board containing "particular info, consisting of, without restriction, the total number of persons in each bargaining system represented by the employee organization." The requirement permits the state to assemble information on government union representation.

AB172 would force government agencies to provide expansive and detailed details on workers to the public-sector unions they acknowledge as a bargaining systems. That details consists of the "name, address, email address, phone number, work contact information and work place of each employee" at least twice a year.

" This bill," Justin Norton, president of the Washoe County Employees Association, composed in favor of the proposition, "will allow for much easier communication between employees and their labor representatives and remains in the interest of all celebrations."

That's wonderful spin, however it's poppycock. Unions currently have contact details on their own members. The apparent purpose of AB172 is to make it much easier for unions to contact nonunion employees during recruitment efforts.

This expense would unlock to the harassment of civil servant who have, for whatever factor, exercised their right to complimentary association and chose not to join a labor company. It's a backdoor effort to weaken Nevada's right-to-work defenses by offering labor employers more tools to press employees who won't sign up.

AB172 does not even include an opt-out provision. Even if specific employees alert their employer that they do not desire the union to have their name and contact information, the employer would be obliged to provide it anyway, although no greater than two times a year.

If it were amended to enable public workers to sign off on offering their details to the union while respecting the personal privacy of those who feel otherwise, this legislation may be salvageable. Absent that, Gov. Joe Lombardo must break out his veto pen if AB172 emerges from the Senate and lands on his desk.