BUTLER: Give union workers merit boost

OPINION/ANALYSIS:

Why not change the law to let your employer pay you more if you do a great job?

Excuse me?! They can do that already, right?

Not if you’re one of 8 million union members working under a collective bargaining agreement. These agreements structure pay for all workers. They set a negotiated “floor” for wages, assuring that each worker is legally protected against from being paid less than the negotiated rate.

The snag is, these agreements also set a legally enforceable ceiling on pay, even for the best workers.

Say you work in a graphic design firm or government printing division and want to get on in the world. Maybe you go and take a class on your own dime to sharpen your skills. Then, instead of surreptitiously watching late afternoon reruns of “Grey’s Anatomy” on your computer (like some of your co-workers), you focus on your work and turn in consistently first-rate products.

You know you’re outperforming everyone else, so one day you go to your boss and ask for the higher pay you deserve.

She agrees you are deserving and doesn’t want to lose you. But if you’re in a union shop, your boss’ hands are legally tied. Because you work under a collective bargaining agreement, the National Labor Relations Act makes it illegal for her to give you a merit raise or even hand you a bonus unless it’s first negotiated with the union.

Typically a union doesn’t want the boss to decide who’s done a good job. And your co-workers watching “Grey’s”certainly don’t.

What if your employer wants to go to the mat and put into place a merit pay and bonus plan on top of the current agreement? Unless it involves some kind of objective assessment that takes employer judgment out of the equation, your boss could end up in court. And chances are she would lose.

“Objective” plans might be fine if you simply made more widgets than the next guy. That just involves counting. But it isn’t so easy to be objective if you are good because you design the best newsletter in the department.

Or you are a great kindergarten teacher, and the kids and parents adore you.

Or you are the kind of security guard who is the epitome of vigilance during the night shift while others doze or read the newspaper.

My colleague, James Sherk, has a simple solution to this rigid and unfair situation that discourages excellence: Amend the law that puts a ceiling on the wages of more than 8 million Americans, and let employers under collective bargaining agreements reward workers who go the extra mile.

Some lawmakers are listening. Sen. John Ensign, Nevada Republican, and Rep. Tom McClintock, California Republican, are poised to introduce next weeka billto amend the National Labor Relations Act to permit higher pay for unionized workers who produce superior work.

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