CIR Reform: Failure in the Legislature

You Shall Not Pass!!! … legislation eliminating the Commission of Industrial Relations and ending collective bargaining in the state of Nebraska. The news in the OWH today is that opponents of the CIR have abandoned their efforts to eliminate this Commission. This just so happens to be the result I expected all along. I’m a political neophyte and I saw this coming. What were the various chambers of commerce thinking in fighting this losing battle? I admire their willingness to stick to their beliefs about the best possible solution to our public labor issues, but there is a time for sticking to principles and a time to understand the political realities, so it comes as no surprise that they failed to eliminate collective bargaining in this state. In my previous post I stated “I only hope that given a failed attempt to eliminate the CIR completely we don’t end up without any reform.” That concern has only increased after yesterday’s failure. It is noted in the OWH article that this decision came after seven hours of debate. I can’t help but wonder what meaningful progress could have occurred in that time to reform the CIR. Only time will tell if any reform will make its way through the legislature.