The head of the union that represents 40-thousand state and local government workers in Iowa plans to sue, in hopes of blocking a new state that would reduce collective bargaining rights for public sector unions.  Danny Homan – President of AFSCME Council 61, says “This law is unconstitutional.” He announced the pending lawsuit late Thursday afternoon, shortly after the Iowa Senate gave final approval to the bill. Critics say the bill is a farewell gift to Governor Terry Branstad before he resigns and leaves for his new post as U.S. Ambassador to China.

Homan said to cheering union members in the audience, “Well, I’m giving Terry a different present tomorrow. I’m giving him a lawsuit.” Homan’s union has been bargaining with the Branstad Administration and is due to present the union’s final offer today (Friday). If Branstad signs the bill into law quickly, it could force negotiations on a two-year contract to start from scratch under new rules. Homan expects the union’s lawyer will seek a temporary injunction in district court that would put the law on hold while the case makes its way through the courts.

Wisconsin’s governor enacted a similar law in 2011 and it withstood a legal challenge in that state’s courts. “The Wisconsin lawsuit and the Iowa lawsuit are going to be completely different because the laws are different. Heck, the supreme court there is different because the supreme court is an elected supreme court. They run as a partisan body,” Homan says. “I believe we’ll get a much better shake with the Iowa Supreme Court….at least that’s my hope.”

Homan and his union have sued Branstad before, accusing the governor of lacking the legislature’s authorization to close state institutions like the state-run juvenile home in Toledo and Iowa Workforce Development offices around the state. The court ruled in Branstad’s favor in those cases.

(Radio Iowa)