Influence Of Unions Continues To Grow

Bader said the program would allow officers to respond to calls en route to work.

In contract talks with Renne, the county agreed to increase from three to five the number of union representatives on the board that oversees the county's retirement funds. Council analysts have recommended against it, saying that the board was designed to provide accountability to taxpayers, who pay 87 percent of the annual contribution.

Since the early 1980s, when voters first approved collective bargaining, the unions' influence has grown in ways large and small. Among the 1,500 proposals Renne brought to the table last year was language phasing out the use of volunteers "for any work that is essential to the basic operation of the library system."

When the council balked, a compromise was crafted that instead phases out volunteers for "any function which requires direct access to the library circulation system computer or circulation data."

In 2002, at Renne's urging, the council passed legislation that expanded his ranks to include such temporary workers as lifeguards and recreation staff. Membership ballooned from 5,500 to about 8,000.

Senior legislative attorney Michael Faden cautioned the council at the time that the measure would absorb workers into the union by "legislative fiat." Responses to postcards the council sent to workers asking for their feedback were "uniformly negative," Faden wrote.

Renne attributed the response to the wording of the notice. The county, he said, has intentionally kept costs down by "exploiting" temporary workers who do not qualify for overtime or health benefits.

Dacek was the lone council member that year to vote against the legislation. She paid at the ballot box. Council President Michael Knapp (D-Upcounty) defeated Dacek, a Republican, in 2002 with help from the unions.

For candidates seeking election, unions can play a critical role, providing money and ground troops to get out the vote. But labor's track record at the polls has been mixed. In last month's Democratic primary in District 4, however, Don Praisner defeated union-backed School Board President Nancy Navarro. And union leaders have not quieted Andrews after they backed his unsuccessful opponent in 2006.

Said Renne, "We're going to keep running people until we find someone to beat him."