Lawton, OK employees win a voice -- once and for all

by   |  September 20, 2006

Yesterday, Lawton, OK general employees had their right to a voice on the job affirmed once and for all when the state Supreme Court rejected yet another request to repeal the 2004 Oklahoma Municipal Employee Collective Bargaining Act. In 2005, Lawton and other cities persuaded the state Supreme Court to overturn the law, which grants municipal employees in cities over 35,000 the freedom to unionize. But in March 2006, city employees across the state, joining with AFSCME, successfully urged the court to reconsider its decision and reinstate the law. In June, Lawton officials again asked the Supreme Court to repeal the law. Yesterday’s court ruling rejected Lawton’s request, and city employees will now seek union certification from the state Public Employee Relations Board. Erlene Maroon, an employee in Lawton’s Police Records Department, called the decision, “a historic victory for freedom.” After the long hard battle Lawton, and other Oklahoma city workers have been through – first to pass the law, and then to fight off attacks on it in the courts – that’s no an understatement.