The city of Anchorage has rejected a second version of an application to hold a referendum to repeal a new ordinance that limits unions. And it looks like whether the referendum goes forward will be decided in court.
The clerk’s office rejected the latest referendum application because attorneys say the ordinance is administrative rather than legislative, so it can’t be reversed by a referendum. Andy Holleman, with the Anchorage Education Association was a sponsor of the application. He disagrees with the city’s decision.
“The next step now is to go to the courts and ask them to rule on it.”
The group’s second attempt at a referendum cleaned up some technical problems with the first application.
Holleman says union leaders will be asking the court for expedited consideration and for the law to be suspended. But he says their primary goal, is to bring the law before the people of Anchorage for a vote.
“Real bargaining needs to be balanced between both parties. And essentially we feel that what Dan Sullivan did, prior to starting bargaining, is he went in an legislated a lot of what he wanted to see at the bargaining table.”
Attorney’s working for the Municipality on behalf of the Sullivan Administration maintain the referendum can’t legally go forward. The ordinance impacts around 22-hundred municipal employees. It limits pay, benefits and mediation, and eliminates the option of a strike.
Daysha Eaton is a contributor with the Alaska Public Radio Network.
Daysha Eaton holds a B.A. from Evergreen State College, and a M.A. from the University of Southern California. Daysha got her start in radio at Seattle public radio stations, KPLU and KUOW. Before coming to KBBI, she was the News Director at KYUK in Bethel. She has also worked as the Southcentral Reporter for KSKA in Anchorage.
Daysha's work has appeared on NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered", PRI's "The World" and "National Native News". She's happy to take assignments, and to get news tips, which are best sent via email.
Daysha became a journalist because she believes in the power of storytelling. Stories connect us and they help us make sense of our world. They shed light on injustice and they comfort us in troubled times. She got into public broadcasting because it seems to fulfill the intention of the 4th Estate and to most effectively apply the freedom of the press granted to us through the Constitution. She feels that public radio has a special way of moving people emotionally through sound, taking them to remote places, introducing them to people they would not otherwise meet and compelling them to think about issues they might ordinarily overlook.
