Louisiana - Workers Fight Favoritism
Save Seniority | Members of Louisiana Council 17 rally at the state Capitol. Photo Credit: Scott St. Arnold
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
More than 250 members of Council 17 rallied at the state Capitol this spring to oppose proposed rules that would let employers make compensation and layoff decisions based on job performance reviews.
Janice Priest, a technician in Louisiana State University’s biochemistry department and chief steward of Local 2649 (Council 17), is among the workers who traveled to Baton Rouge to attend the rally. She explained her motivation: “I feel our job security is at stake. I know changes need to be made, but do not revamp it by taking away our job protection.”
Days earlier, Council 17 Pres. Leonal Hardman testified before the state Civil Service Commission that public employees are now “insulated from political favoritism and arbitrary treatment in hiring, firing and discipline. Anything less is a politically based spoils system abandoned decades ago.”
The panel voted for the rule change in June, angering more than 800 AFSCME members and state workers who rallied outside the meeting room. Council 17 hopes to reverse the decision when the Legislature meets again early next year.
