Two bills targeting labor unions promoted by Sen. John Goedde, R-Coeur d'Alene, conflict with federal laws and could land the state in court, according to an Idaho attorney general's opinion. Nevertheless, a Senate committee passed one of the two measures on Wednesday, sending it on to the full Senate, while it'll continue considering the other on Monday. Click below for a full report from AP reporter John Miller.

Idaho takes center stage in union contractor fight
By JOHN MILLER, Associated Press

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A bill aimed at weakening union influence in Idaho could keep state and local governments from requiring contractors bidding on public works projects from paying workers predetermined wages and benefits.

The Republican-backed measure that cleared the Senate State Affairs Committee 7-2 on Wednesday also seeks to prohibit requiring contractors to forge agreements with workers on issues such as paying union-scale wages as a condition of winning a bid on a government construction job.

Idaho is a right-to-work state, where workers can't be required to join unions as a condition of employment.

Industry groups such as the Associated Builders & Contractors that are behind the bill complained that such anticompetitive agreements are driving up the cost of projects and resulting in union workers from outside Idaho winning jobs within the state.

"Union-only projects, by whatever name, routinely bring the majority of their workforces in the northern part of the state from out of state," said Jim Thorpe, owner of Thorco Inc. in Coeur d'Alene, which employs up to 50 nonunion workers.

James Piotrowski, a lawyer who represents the AFL-CIO labor group, said the proposed changes were unnecessary because no state or local government in Idaho, to his knowledge, has ever required contractors to enter into agreements that would be forbidden by the bill.

But he warned that adding the prohibitions to state public works projects would be an invitation for lawsuits.

"The only job that would be created by this bill would be my job," Piotrowski said. "I'd spend the next few years litigating."

In an Idaho attorney general's opinion issued Tuesday, Assistant Chief Deputy Brian Kane expressed concern, saying the bill might run afoul of federal laws.

A "challenge in federal district court... would not be surprising," Kane wrote.

Another bill targeting unions seeks to forbid them from using dues to subsidize members' wages to help union-shop contractors win projects. These subsidies, known as job targeting programs, can lower a union contractor's overall costs and allow them to submit more competitive bids.

Advocates of outlawing the practice say it artificially manipulates the market.

"It isn't right," said Sen. Monty Pearce, R-New Plymouth. "There are enormous amounts of union money flowing into Idaho to subsidize wages at the expense of nonunion workers."

Kane, however, wasn't certain Idaho could fend off a possible legal challenge on the bill due to precedents from the U.S. Supreme Court and other courts. Lawmakers held off until at least Monday to vote on the second bill.

"The draft legislation carries with it a significant possibility of a successful challenge," Kane wrote.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.